West Penn Police are investigating an incident involving an exploding mailbox that occurred Sunday night around 10 p.m. on 916 Dairy Rd. in South Tamaqua.

Vandals placed an explosive device in the box to destroy it.A Tamaqua Crime Watch official stated that the incident is considered a felony offense.The United States Postal Inspection Service can investigate cases in which residential mailboxes are destroyed because they are considered federal property.In addition to local authorities, the federal government can also investigate, prosecute and make arrests regarding the destruction of a residential mailbox.According to the United States Postal Inspection Service, each act of vandalizing, injuring, defacing or destroying a mailbox or any mail within it can carry a fine of $250,000 or a prison sentence of up to three years.Those punishments are for each count, so a person who destroys more than one mailbox faces a larger fine or longer sentence.West Penn Township Police encourage anyone who has information concerning last night's Dairy Road mailbox vandalism to call the station at (570) 386-1100.