Famous Key West Southernmost Point buoy burned after 2 set tree on fire
KEY WEST, Fla. - Police in Key West are searching for two people who burned a part of Key West's famous Southernmost Point buoy early New Year's Day after setting a fire near the tourist attraction.
Authorities said two males lit a Christmas tree on fire in front of the buoy around 3:30 a.m. Saturday and the flames charred sections of the colorful, 4-ton cement monument that reads "90 miles to Cuba, Southernmost Point, Continental U.S.A."
Archival webcam images of the buoy from a marketing company shows two people lighting the tree on fire near the marker, with the flames leaving a large black burn mark on the monument.
Courtesy: City of Key West
READ: Florida deputies arrested after fight with Navy sailors in Key West, sheriff says
The red, yellow, black and white marker resembles a giant marine navigational buoy. It proclaims that Key West is 90 miles (145 kilometers) from Havana. Artists restored the monument after it was damaged during Hurricane Irma in 2017.
CONNECT WITH FOX 13: