CSI: Mailbox Madness

I got home yesterday to a sight that, frankly, angered me to no end.
I'm not sure pictures do it justice, bu our whole mailbox is pretty cattywompus now. You can't even close the door!

But not only did I see our mailbox destroyed... it was what I did not see that put me over the top, ranting and raving about felonies and U.S. government property... and principals.
What did I not see? Well, a "fess-up" note, of course. Whoever carelessly busted our mailbox also carelessly did it without admitting it.
A mailbox hit and run.
Using my keen CSI abilities (sharpened by watching umpteen episodes of the original CSI, CSI:NY and the occasional CSI: Miami, for a good laugh), I snapped some photos, took some notes and gathered the evidence...
From the get go, I'll tell you my assumption: someone working on the construction site across the street who has a large, white truck backed into it.

Why do I assume such things?
1. The workers across the street are the ONLY workers in our neighborhood right now.
2. Only 2 other families live on our street (well, those are the only people who pass by our driveway/mailbox, anyway).
3. We live in a cul-de-ac... so it's kind of hard to back into things with all that room. HOWEVER, workers from across the street were parked in front of our house, making passage for large vehicles difficult. Someone maneuvering between/around those cars may have figured it was better to trash the mailbox.... (or may have missed it completely in a large vehicle surrounded by dumb cars that aren't supposed to be in front of my house in the first place!)
4. The mailbox was hit with some force.... or at least with some strength, as you can tell from this photo that shows the mailbox "uprooted" from the ground. (It's hanging there by threads, so to speak. I'm surprised it hasn't toppled over completely....)

5. It was also smacked by a white or light-colored vehicle, as you can tell from this photo that shows a little paint transfer. Now, if only I can find a worker's vehicle in our cul-de-sac that has a little of my mailbox on it!


Back to my ranting... it's one thing to damage someone's property (and actually it's a whole other ballgame to damage a mailbox, which is government property... and a federal offense).... but it's intolerable to damage someone's property and NOT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT IT! That drives me crazy. If I mess up something, as dumb and as horrible as I feel, I say something about it, admit to my mistake, ask to fix it, pay for a replacement, whatever....

But I will hop off my pedestal for now. My head hurts too bad to continue this tirade! Plus, no matter how vocal I am about it, it's not going to fix my mailbox!
*sigh....


Just for the record: Mailboxes are considered federal property, and federal law makes it a crime to vandalize them. Violators can be fined up to $250,000 or imprisoned for up to three years for each act of vandalism! I would think that our hit-and-run-mailbox doofus would rather pay the $500-$700 to fix ours that go to jail or pay hundreds of thousands of dollars, wouldn't you?