And while those homes were destroyed by fire, vandals destroyed billboards on the roadside. If you've driven on the highways, you've no doubt seen those big signs letting you know how you can advertise your business on them. But while they remain blank, there are usually positive or humorous messages on them to attract attention. Well, two of those signs, one thanking teachers and another "bigging up" Belizeans were intentionally cut down by someone, costing the owner, Julian Sherard, close to $8,000 in damages. He explained more today:
Julian Sherard, Owner, Big Signs Belize
"I got a call yesterday from my driver who was coming by out here on the highway and noticed that 2 of our billboards were missing, the one sign that was bigging up all our teachers and the other sign was bigging up Belizeans in general and unfortunately the signs were just missing and he noticed it and he call me and let me know those signs were nowhere to be seen and so we are at a loss as to why they were removed, but its of great concern and obviously cost a lot of money. There is evidence which I can show you that they were cut down with an angle grinder, so somebody either brought a generator and an angle grinder or they had some sort of a battery powered angle grinder and there is evidence on the ground you can see a big machine push the over here and into the bush that's right behind us."
"Many years ago, during an easter bicycle race we had somebody steal one of our banners, we haven't had any problems since then, but this is quite a surprise that we had this problem. Belize, yes we have a little bit of vandalism once in a while, but I'm really shocked. Unfortunately, the signs themselves, the banners were destroyed and cannot be reused, the frames were also destroyed - some parts of them can be recycled into new frames, but there is a loss in the foundation that we cannot reused and we'd have to rebuilt whatever is leftover. We probably lost $7,500 because with the labour and everything that we have to do, its a major hit at a bad time after the pandemic."
Police have processed the scene and are seeking suspects.
