KEY WEST, Fla. – Authorities are searching for two men suspected of damaging the Southernmost Point buoy in Key West, Florida, early Saturday.
The colorful buoy, the southernmost point in the continental U.S. that marks the spot in Key West that is 90 miles from Cuba, had “extensive damage” after a fire was set between 3 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. EST, Key West Police Department spokesperson Alyson Cream said in a statement.
The four-ton, red, yellow and black marker has been a famous attraction for visitors to Key West since 1983, WFTV-TV reported.
Police already have a lead on who might have set the blaze: a webcam run by Two Oceans Digital, a local marketing company, captured two men on video, the Miami Herald reported. The men apparently placed a discarded tree in front of the buoy and set it on fire, according to the newspaper.
The webcam has an online archive that stores video footage from the past 24 hours, according to the Herald.
Members of the Key West Fire Department arrived and extinguished the fire, WSVN-TV reported.
Artists restored the buoy after it was damaged during Hurricane Irma in 2017, according to The Associated Press.
The incident remains under investigation.
