Unknown assailants likely destroyed a crane at a construction site near the Aser area in Klosterveen on Friday evening. According to owner Berend Jan Hartenhof, of the contracting and earthmoving company of the same name, the damage amounts to thousands of euros.

On Saturday, Hartenhoff received a phone call from a colleague. “He drove by the crane and saw the door was open and the windows were smashed,” Hartenhoff recalled. “When I arrived, almost all the windows were open, the mirrors were broken, the lighting was broken. All the glass on the tap was a mess. I was white hot and had to cool down for three hours.”

“Sometimes we get damaged in the company. But then my employees say that, and then you also feel faint. But that’s intentional. The windows have been smashed with stones and dirt. The businessman wonders what’s the use of that?” . “How would you feel if you did that? We’re a hard-working company and we do everything we can to prepare our materials and then you get this.”

Work is underway to expand the residential area on the edge of Closterveen. Construction companies, earth moving companies and other organizations prepare the land for construction or build houses there. In the evenings and on weekends, the materials are placed in a warehouse surrounded by construction fences.

“The night before, it looked like they had taken a fall,” Hartenhoff says. He received various advice via social media, as well as from residents of the Closterveen area. “They saw groups of young men on scooters and bicycles near the warehouse on Friday evening around 10:30. We ourselves saw wide tire tracks near our destroyed crane.”

Hartenhoff reported the sabotage. “I also contacted the municipality of Assen, whose warehouse is where our crane is located. I also asked to meet the local police officer. Because we have to do something about this. It is not normal for this to happen.”