Vandals did thousands of dollars in damage to historic Sell's Mill in Jackson County over the weekend.
Jackson County Sheriff's Janis Mangum estimated the vandals did about $10,000 worth of damage, breaking 23 of the 25 windows in the mill and breaking down the front door of the building.
"They busted the door in, which had a big thing on the back of it to lock it - a 4x4 post - so I'm not sure what they hit it with, but they hit it with something pretty stout," Mangum said.
She said it appeared rocks were thrown through some of the windows from outside, but others were broken from the inside. The mechanism of the mill itself did not appear to have suffered major damage.
"It's pretty sickening," Mangum said. "It's just a beautiful area and it's a shame that we have something that nice in our county and then vandalism occurs."
Mangum said a reward is on the table for anyone who can offer information that leads to an arrest in the case. Any suspects will face felony charges.
"I'm hoping somebody will talk or we'll figure it out and hold whoever did this responsible for it," Mangum said.
The mill on Jackson Trail in Hoschton, which operated from 1914 until the 1990s, according to Jackson County historical information, is now used as an event venue. Mangum said there was an event Saturday night and there was nothing amiss when the building was locked up after the event. The damage was discovered Monday morning.
Anyone who has information is asked to contact Capt. Dale A. Dillow at 706-387-6043 or the anonymous tip line at 706-367-3784.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2019/11/847499/vandals-do-10k-worth-of-damage-to-historic-sells-mill-in-jackson-county