SALEM, Mass. (AP) — Rainbow flags are being flown in downtown Salem to support an LGBT publication after one of its newspaper boxes was destroyed in an explosion.
City and community leaders plan to unveil a new box for The Rainbow Times on Sunday after the explosion last week, which police are investigating as a hate crime.
The Rainbow Times calls itself New England’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender newspaper.
Investigators say surveillance footage shows about seven people approach the box in Lappin Park on Tuesday and place explosives inside it. The State Fire Marshal is offering a reward of $5,000 for information that helps solve the crime.
The newspaper’s publisher said in a statement that other boxes were recently vandalized but that The Rainbow Times won’t be silenced by ignorance or hatred.
RELATED: Suspects wanted for blowing up LGBT newspaper box in Salem