Vandals damaged a soundproofing wall along the Kalispell bypass project that could cost as much as $20,000 to repair.

Construction crews working on the $34 million road project found the damaged wall Tuesday morning near Three-Mile Drive. It appeared someone used a steel stake to stab and bore holes into the specialized concrete. The walls were built to suppress traffic noise from disturbing the neighborhood at Empire Loop, west of the bypass.

LHC Project Manager Don Brummel said replacing the damaged portion of the wall could cost between $10,000 and $20,000. Kalispell Police Sergeant Brett Corbett said the department will turn the case over to one of their detectives.

It appeared that whoever vandalized the wall crawled through a stormwater hole in the wall from the Empire Loop side to the bypass side. The damage was about 5 feet up the wall.

Earlier this year, someone shot a window out of a large scraper vehicle being used on the bypass project and crews found a spray-painted wall near the south end of the bypass in another incident. After Tuesday’s vandalism strike, Brummel said anyone found on the bypass before its official opening at the end of this month will be turned in for trespassing.

“The quality was there. These have been up for three or four months now. To have this happen… this is too much,” he said.

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.