This story has been revised. See editor’s note below.
Malibu High’s stadium lights fell victim to vandals last week after power lines were allegedly cut sometime between Tuesday and Wednesday.
News broke of the outage last Wednesday, just two days before the football team’s Friday night home opener.
“We had just got the lights put back up and we were going to test them,” said Malibu High principal David Jackson. “When they didn’t go on we started looking around and found that someone had cut the power lines.”
Jackson said repairmen were quickly working to reconnect power Friday night’s football home opener would go on as planned. Malibu High won the home opener, 34-6.
In an email to Board of Education members, district superintendent Sandra Lyon said the lights were “purposefully cut” and she would “[demand] a full investigation.”
Lyon told The Malibu Times the district spent $2,500 on the repairs. Officials at the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station said the case remains under investigation and no arrests have been made.
The lights have been the subject of controversy — and a lawsuit — for the past couple of years. Members of the Malibu Community Alliance have sued the school district over stadium lights at the field, arguing the fixtures pollute dark night skies.
Editor’s note: This story previously stated the lights were temporary fixtures. The 70-foot fixtures are permanent installations but have the capability to be lowered in between uses.
