FILE – This Sept. 15, 2018, file photo, shows the Cape Hatteras lighthouse in Buxton, N.C. The National Park Service said Tuesday, July 23, 2019, that 39-year-old Jamie Lester Underwood, of Winston-Salem, pleaded guilty to vandalizing the lighthouse’s original bronze door last year. A federal judge ordered Underwood to pay $1,922 in restitution for repairs and placed him on one year of probation. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
CAPE HATTERAS, N.C. (AP) — The National Park Service says a North Carolina man has pleaded guilty to vandalizing the more than century-old Cape Hatteras Lighthouse by carving initials into its bronze door with a pocketknife.
A park service news release Tuesday said 39-year-old Jamie Lester Underwood of Winston-Salem etched the letters “SEF” into the door while visiting the landmark last year on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. A park official says the initials represented one of Underwood’s friends.
Park service rangers got a tip in the case after issuing a plea for clues in a Facebook post.
Underwood entered his plea July 8. A federal judge ordered Underwood to pay $1,922 in restitution for repairs and gave him one year of probation.
The lighthouse was completed in 1870. It’s designated as a National Historic Landmark.
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