Off & on over the years, mailboxes in the area have gotten smashed. This new phenomenon is crazy: the crooks are actually removing people's mailboxes from the post. My neighbors got targeted last week, & another neighbor (while on their daily walk) spotted the mailbox across the road & in my woods near the road. Darn rascals. I hope they get caught. Area citizens are on alert & also trying to find ways to protect their mailbox &/or catch the thief. Seems like sooner or later the bandit will slip up.

Federal offense I believe

Ex father in law had that problem. Kids would drive by and wack em with a ball bat. Made one out of 10 gauge stainless steel and painted it black so to look like the new flimsy ones. Welded to the top plate and post was 3 inch schedule 80. Bet that rattled their teeth when hit it. One tried to pull it up and failed.

when we were kids i knew a guy that took a swing at one from a 4 door car as they were moving an the bat came back an took out the rear door window set up a trail cam if your not on a busy rd an catchem in the act

Have to be careful around here as the box is required to break or swing away when hit. Usually ment for the snow plows. I've heard of people doing like your ex-gather-in-law and getting into deep trouble when someone ran into it with their car and caused alot of damage. Usually it's not the person who's causing the problems in the first place.

Ours got knocked one time, breaking the post it was on. I did the best, fast, temporary fix I could think of, and set the box on the seat of an old kitchen stool to buy some time to install it properly. The next morning I looked out and it was down again, well into the ditch. The next evening, after dark I stood everything back up again but added 3 concrete blocks on the steps and rungs of the kitchen stool. Sure enough, the next morning everything was down again and the concrete blocks had large streaks of metallic blue paint all over them and the frame of the stool was bent.

Mounted the box on a treated 4X4 imbedded in a 5 gallon bucket filled with concrete buried in the dirt.

Never had my mailbox vandalized again.

Moosetrot

Would not count on any level of law enforcement to do much about it unless you can catch them red handed

Had one stolen, had pictures with clear plate numbers. Postal people would not even return call, deputy sheriff went by their house 3 times and they either were not home or did not answer the door and after 3 attempts "we have done all we can do" was their response

You are liable if someone hits a "fortified" one and gets injured

I'm up for any legal means to catch or deter them.

I knew a guy that lost his arm from hitting them with a bat, somehow the driver got to close and the bat and box pinned his arm to the car and removed it, this was back in 50s or 60s so reattachment wasn’t really an option like today.

... ice chest full of beer in the back of a dually... a heelin rope and a gooseneck ball to dally off to .... only targeted those that had it coming .....the good ol days lol

One I had knocked off was a farmer driving down the road and his bean head took out my box. I always wondered if I had not been outside and saw it If he would have stoped.

When we moved to the farm dad's got hit by a young man. It took his mirror up. Mine got hit also.
They stuck out very close to the road as we're asking to be hit honestly. So on dad's we made the box m I until on the side of the pole instead of the front so it sat back 12" further and we didn't have to move the pole.(dad wanted the easiest fix) on mine I moved the pole back 3" off the road and put in a gravel pull off in so the mail lady can get over off the road just a little. So far it's worked well for both of them.

Get a bat proof heavy plastic one and mount it on a swing away post.
The kids/ vandals have no fun if it moves or doesn't smash when hit

Bowling ball scene from Dazed and Confused.

sure but do you ever see the mail box vandals , on the evening news head hung down being walked into court in cuffs and an orange jumpsuit?

Cops around here would like to catch them. I doubt the Post Office cares much.

Enclose them in brick is the best option.

Few years back some punks drove a stolen truck and smashed numerous garages and mailboxes with the truck in my neighborhood. They only ran over my mailbox. I made a new post with 2" square tubing reinforced concrete and the tubing was concrete filled.

They ran over 3 dz mailboxes during the spree. Post master wasn't interested in pursuing charges.
The state had over 50 counts (misdemeanor and felony) for each person in the truck

Never

Ours took a beating along with many on the country road.
When someone put up a new one they came back and smashed.
We bought one from someone who welded them and put it on the nice post.
That evening we sat on the porch waiting - about 250 feet away.
A car slowed and a kid got out with a bat.
He hit it with all his might and we heard a “dongggg” and then”Ow, ow, ooowsww!”
He broke the bat and left half that had blood on it.
No more mailbox problems in the area!

I've had drive by box smashers periodically over the years, finally i drove a steel t stake on the approach side of the mailbox so the idiots couldn't get a swing at it... the t stake just rotted off at the ground this winter, lol
But I haven't witnessed any box smashing in quite awhile. Kids seem tamed down by the heroin....

They quit beatin em up and started checking them here.
Don't kill the crop if you're going to harvest the fruit.