NEW GLOUCESTER (NEWS CENTER Maine) — The only remaining Shaker community was vandalized last week at the Sabbathday Village Shaker Farm in New Gloucester.
According to the village's Facebook page, vandals carved deep tracks in the community's hayfields sometime Thursday night or Friday morning.
Officials wrote:
"A sad day on the Shaker farm. Vandals drove into the north Hayfield, causing damage to more than half of the field. Authorities were contacted, but unfortunately very little can be done unless the perpetrators are caught. Repairs are extensive and will have to be done by hand."
The Shaker farm is a working farm that produces more than 50 tons of hay each year for the sheep and cattle that live there.
The 1,700-acre property is home to 17 historic homesteads, but the number of Shakers who actually call the property home has fallen to just two people.
As of Monday, Oct. 1, the village's Facebook post had garnered more than 250 comments, many from people who offered their help to restore the field.