RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM Vandals damaged the front door and two side windows of the KHON Broadcast Center on Piikoi Street early yesterday morning.

Vandals damage windows at KHON

A vandal or vandals damaged three large glass windows at KHON-TV on Piikoi Street yesterday morning.

The incident occurred between 5:30 and 6:40 a.m., when newsroom staff were in the control room putting on Channel 2's morning news show, General Manager Joe McNamara said.

No one in the building heard or saw anything, he said.

Damage is estimated at $15,000 to $20,000 and will take two to eight months to fix, said Paul McCurdy, resident manager of Hawaiki Tower, where KHON has its offices on the ground floor.

The custom glass is expensive and manufacturers are still busy replacing glass from Hurricane Katrina, McCurdy said.

It appears some kind of projectile, perhaps a pellet or ball bearing, hit the glass, McCurdy said.

"You can see the point of impact," he said, noting that there is a hole about 1/4 inch in diameter, where the object hit the glass before shattering it.

No object was recovered, and McCurdy speculated it bounced off after hitting the panels.

The windows are double-paneled and the projectile damaged only the front panel, but both will have to be replaced, McCurdy said.

He said windows at Hawaiki Tower have been a target of vandals before, but not in recent months.

Honolulu police Maj. Randy Macadangdang said there was another incident early yesterday morning on Halekauwila Street where a glass window on an auto parts store was damaged.

But Macadangdang said it's not clear if the incidents are related.

He said he is not aware of any other similar recent incidents.

Macadangdang urged anyone who may have witnessed either incident of vandalism to call police.