Saboteurs topple towers

SEATTLE – Two radio station towers near Seattle that have generated intense local opposition were toppled early Friday in an act of sabotage that bore the initials of the radical Earth Liberation Front.

The towers for KRKO-AM – one of which was 349 feet tall – were torn down because of health and environmental concerns, according to an e-mail from the North American ELF Press Office. “We have to weigh our priorities, and the local ecosystem in Everett, along with the local residents, do not need additional sports news radio station towers that come at the expense of reduced property values and harmful radio waves,” ELF press office spokesman Jason Crawford said in the e-mail.

The ELF is a loose collection of radical environmentalists that has claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks since the 1990s. A banner that bore the initials of the ELF was left at the scene, authorities said.