THEFT! SABATOGE! AT THE COURTHOUSE?!?!

It doesn't quite rank as terrorism, but it caused quite a problem to the Polk County court system for several days.

According to this story in today's Lakeland Ledger, apparantly someone got into the room which houses the courthouse's computer hardware approximately January 11 and stole a vital piece of equipment, resulting in courthouse employees unable to send e-mail or use the Internet. It also prevented the video connection between the courthouse and nearby Polk County Jail, resulting in judges conducting first appearance hearings at the jail.

When the replacement equipment arrived, it was learned that the culprit(s) apparantly changed things up which resulted in some fried circuits, destroying the replacement equipment and damaged the courthouse's backbone of communication.

It's reportedly all fixed now, but the Bartow Police Department and Florida Department of Law Enforcement are on the case. And, needless to say, security precautions are being tightened further to prevent a repeat performance.