[michigan83]

For those who aren't aware, the oldest covered bridge in Michigan was destroyed by suspected arson over the 4th of July weekend. One of the saddest and most sickening examples of vandalism I have ever seen. People are organizing an effort to rebuild the bridge, but the cost is expected to be $850K and the bridge was not located in a wealthy community. I'm afraid we have lost one of Michigan's treasures forever.

Historic Whites Bridge destroyed by arson fire, say authorities | MLive.com

Whites Bridge: Does rebirth of hurricane-wrecked Vermont bridge offer rebuilding template? | MLive.com

[michmoldman]

Truly sad. The stupidity, and lack of any common decency in some people is really mind boggling to me.

[Luzette]

That's really awful. Why anyone would want to do this boggles the mind.

[detwahDJ]

People who do this stuff are sick in the head, or just ignorant adolescents who have never had to pay a bill.

[chiroptera]

I may have visited this bridge on my first trip to Michigan in about 1982.

How sad. I don't understand the mindset of someone who would do such a thing.

[Luzette]

Someone threw a fire cracker out of the window where I live over the 4th, and it started a grass fire. Luckily, it got put out before it could spread too far. People just don't care. I really hate the fouth because of how reckless folks are.

[jeeg]

I've been across that bridge many times. This really ticked me off

[darstar]

This kind of crime is quite common. It's like barn burners sometimes, where the objective is to cause harm to a specife person or persons. Was popular in the old south and often had racial overtones.....

Most likely however it's someone who finds pleasure in destroying history. The more historic,,the more they get their jollies by doing such deads. I have a good friend who's life work often became chasing down the sickos . He was Fire Marshal for the State of Minn.The stories he would tell could make your hair stand on end as well as the anger. Arson is a serious crime , but often they get away with it. Often the punishment is not nearly enough, considering what they have distroyed, Unfortunatly our laws do not address the difference and often see it as just a act of vandalism .

We can call it what we want, it's often about getting attention . Fire bugs have been around since fire was discovered.How they differ from other acts of vandalism can be complex , it's seldom a random act but it can be , like guys taking a baseball bat to mailboxes , sometimes hundreds of them. Unfortunally I once had the experence of following two guys in a p/u truck doing just that. It was in the Kalamazoo area several years ago , I followed them for a long time , then they got away from me before I could get the Law on their tail...... It's been a common crime, we just had a guy here in Marquette arrested for spray painting public works, he was 25 I think, and a lone wolf. We have a bronze statue near our water front that gets panted often. It's expencive to restore, it's our tax dollars that pay, yet people often see these crimes and never turn in the perp. On a National scale someone painted the Linclon Memorial recently. Two rare paintings stolen from a Muesum were burned in a stove, I saw this coverage last night on the news. The world is full of sick people .