Police On The Lookout For Oktaha Vandals

Over the last several months, the residents of Oktaha have noticed things going missing or destroyed, and now community leaders are coming together to catch the vandals they believe are responsible.

The problems started small and at first didn't seem connected. But recently the county has had enough of the vandals in Oktaha.

"The things that they were doing to the county specifically, definitely drew a lot of attention here," said Muskogee County Commissioner Ken Doke.

Doke says there is widespread reported damage.

"We've had complaints of cattle that's been shot," said resident Chad Rolland.

"Someone stealing a lot of our road signs,” added Doke. “They were taking barricades and barriers from other parts of the country and using them to close off roads.”

A stolen stop sign was recently recovered.

"That creates a really dangerous situation there because a lot of people don't know, and it could create a really bad collision,” Doke explained.

While in some cases mailboxes were smashed and street signs were stolen, in this case, locals suspect the vandals burned down an entire hay barn, costing the owner tens of thousands of dollars.

“Someone walked in here and started it," Rolland said while pointing to where the fire started.

Rolland was at home sleeping last week when his phone rang.

"They told me I got a hay lot and hay barn on fire," he added.

He rushed to find upwards of $50,000 in hay torched.

"We get up in the morning and go to work and just try and pay bills and make a living, and someone comes right behind us and sets fire to what we've done and burn it down and, you know, it's not good," said Rolland.

Rolland is confident the vandals will be caught now that many in the area are on the lookout.

"We'll get 'em,” he said.

The Muskogee County Sheriff's department has arrested one person they believe is connected to the vandalism, but they say the investigation is on-going and more arrests are possible.