Customers had internet outages Sunday from Pinehurst to Carthage after the Moore County Sheriff’s Office said someone intentionally cut fiber optic lines in two places.
Moore County deputies and Spectrum crews responded to the scene along Old Morganton Road near Morganton Road in Southern Pines.
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Crews repaired internet service around 6 p.m. Sunday, according to the sheriff’s office.
Spectrum received an alert before 4 a.m. Sunday about the internet outage. The Moore County Sheriff's Office said the Southern Pines Police Department received notification about the cut line at 10:40 a.m. Sunday. The sheriff's office found out about it at 12:48 p.m. Sunday.
According to the sheriff's office, the damage cost more than $50,000 to the lines cut.
Authorities are offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction of the person responsible for cutting the fiber optic lines. Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's office at 910-947-4444.
Spectrum released a statement about Sunday's incident.
"Criminal attacks on communications infrastructure is a growing issue affecting the entire telecommunications industry, not just Spectrum," the company's statement reads in part.
Nearly 3 years since Moore County power station attack
Sunday's incident is not Moore County's first infrastructure attack.
In December 2022, two energy substations were shot up and damaged.
Power was out for thousands of people for five days and one person died due to the outage.
No arrests have been made in the December 2022 attacks.
There's a combined $100,000 reward for information to solve the case.