The Herald-Mail in Hagerstown, Maryland, reported that it had received an e-mail claiming to be from Earth Liberation Front extremists claiming responsibility for a fire Sunday that destroyed recently built, unoccupied townhouses. The fire caused an estimated $225,000 in damages.
According to the Associated press, the e-mail sent to the newspaper read,
Last night we, the Earth Liberation Front, put the torch to a development of Ryan Homes in Hagerstown, Maryland (off of Route 40, behind the Wal-Mart). We did so to strike at the bottom line of this country’s most notorious serial land rapist. We warn all developers that the people of the Earth are prepared to defend what remains of the wild and the green. We encourage all who watch with sadness while developers sell out the future of us and our children to join us in resisting them in any and every possible way. The Ents are going to war.
The ELF claim has brought the FBI into the investigation of the arson.
This is apparently the first arson in Maryland claimed by the Earth Liberation Front.
Sources:
FBI Probes Claim That ELF Set Western Md. Fires. Associated Press, November 21, 2005.
Arson eyed in town house fires. Karen Hanna, The Herald-Mail (Hagerstown), November 21, 2005.