While the staff of Operation Migration was working at a wildlife refuge in Florida last month, helping to establish a migrating flock of endangered whooping cranes, their hangar in Necedah, Wisc., was broken into by vandals who stole and destroyed thousands of dollars worth of gear and slashed the fabric wings of four ultralights. "A few minutes of senseless destruction means we're looking at a bill for $20,000 to replace the wings," Joe Duff, CEO of the nonprofit group, wrote in the group's blog last week. There was no insurance on the hangar contents. A vintage ultralight that was used in the filming of Fly Away Home was damaged, artwork created by one of the staffers was destroyed, and tires were slashed on two cars stored in the hangar. "All of us lost something in that willful destruction of property, but mostly we lost faith," wrote Duff. "Who knows what motivates such unrepressed anger. ... Instead of lashing out, we will redirect our anger at this cowardly act of destruction into more resolve." Supporters of the group have started a fundraising drive to try to replace some of the damaged goods.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/news/operation-migrations-wisconsin-hangar-vandalized