Vandalized Desert Phone Repaired
A phone in the middle of the Mojave Desert, which gained a cult following after it became the subject of Internet sites, was temporarily silenced by vandals after ringing off the hook for months.
Vandals apparently stole the handset of a phone in the isolated booth in the Mojave National Preserve, about 75 miles from Las Vegas.
Pacific Bell repaired the phone Monday, said spokesman Steve Getzug. It was unclear how many days the phone had been out of service, he said.
Originally installed in the 1960s for the use of volcanic cinder miners, the phone has been called by people all over the world in the two years since the first of several Web sites was dedicated to it. Others have driven huge distances to visit the phone booth, which is 14 miles from the nearest paved road.
A September story in The Times led to worldwide media coverage and a dramatic increase in the phone’s popularity, Getzug said.
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