FAYETTEVILLE, NC — The Postal Service announced on Sunday, December 12 collection boxes in Havelock, Newport and Morehead City were vandalized resulting in fire damage to mail inside the boxes.  Mail deposited on Saturday, December 11 and Sunday, December 12 may be affected. The boxes were located in front of the Post Offices at 133 HWY 70, Havelock NC; 337 Howard Blvd., Newport, NC; and 3500 Bridges St., Morehead City, NC.  Local Law Enforcement is working in conjunction with the Inspection Service to investigate this matter.

The Postal Service was able to identify the recipient and/or the sender of most of the mail, approximately 1200 pieces.  However, there were a few pieces completely destroyed with no obtainable information on the pieces.  The identifiable mail is being repaired and placed in the mail stream today with a letter of explanation.  Notices are also being placed in the lobbies of the three Post Offices with further details.

If customers have questions regarding receipt of mail placed in one of these collection boxes, we would encourage them to contact the receiver or their local Postmaster for assistance.  The phone numbers of the offices are: Havelock Post Office (252) 447-3819, Newport Post Office (252) 223-4638 and Morehead City Post Office (252) 726-0920.

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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no direct support from taxpayers. With 36,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, the Postal Service relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $68 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 28th in the 2009 Fortune 500.