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Billings Rehberg office vandalized

Posted: Apr 28, 2012 3:00 PM by Drew Trafton (KTVQ Billings)
Updated: Apr 29, 2012 9:39 PM


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BILLINGS- One of U.S. Congressman Denny Rehberg's (R-MT) offices has been vandalized for the second time in a month.

Rehberg's state director Randy Vogel says that an alarm at Rehberg's Billings District Office at 1201 Grand Avenue went off at 4:43 a.m. on Saturday.

Vogel says that when Billings Police arrived, six windows and a glass door at the south end of the office, which faces Grand Avenue, had been shattered.

No one was inside of the office at the time of the vandalism. Vogel says due to marks on the blinds of the windows, he believes the vandal used an item similar in size and shape to a tire iron.

Police were unable to find the person responsible for the vandalism as the shattered windows drew the attention of several passerby's, a few offering support and help to the office.

One of those people passing by was lifelong Billings resident Ed Melcher, who wondered what the vandal hoped to accomplish by smashing the windows.

"People in Montana don't believe in this and they don't stand up for this," said Melcher.

Vogel says a glass fitting company took measurements for replacement glass early in the morning and that he expects the scene to be cleaned up and presentable by mid-afternoon.

The office is usually open on Monday through Friday, and Vogel says that the office will resume business as usual on Monday morning.

Early on Saturday, Rehberg's communications director, Jed Link, released a statement on the vandalism:

"Denny has lived and worked in Billings for his whole life and thinks of the people as extended family. The unfortunate actions of one or two people simply can't change the fact that Montanans of all political stripes and backgrounds universally choose to be civil and respectful to each other. That's the community spirit that makes Montana the best state in the country."

A window at Rehberg's Missoula office on East Broadway was broken when a vandal threw a rock through it in late March. That incident was also investigated by police.

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