Police have opened an investigation into a damaged fiber optic cable on Mauna Kea.
Police have opened an investigation into a damaged fiber optic cable on Mauna Kea.
Mauna Kea Observatories Support Services reported the damage Thursday after finding the source of a malfunction that occurred nearly four months ago, police said in a press release issued Friday afternoon.
The cable links telescopes on the mountain to the University of Hawaii network and also serves a global positioning satellite link and an earthquake monitoring station, said Dan Meisenzahl, UH spokesman.
The malfunction occurred at 1:59 p.m. June 24, he said. That same day, the university closed the Mauna Kea Access Road following a large Thirty Meter Telescope protest that blocked construction vehicles and left numerous rocks on the road.
Meisenzahl said there is redundancy in the fiber optic network and the telescopes weren’t impacted.
Police said the damage occurred in a conduit located halfway between Hale Pohaku and the summit about 700 feet from the road.
Technicians reported that the line had been tampered with and pushed back into the conduit, police said.
Damage was estimated at $50,000.
Meisenzahl said the line appeared to have been cut.
Police are asking anyone with information on the criminal property damage case to call the non-emergency line 935-3311 or Officer Jerome Duarte at 961-2211. Anonymous tips can be made by calling 961-8300.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune- herald.com.