Mickey Mouse down, but not out, in Monroe Family seeks justice for destruction of landmark mailbox BY JESSICA SMITH Staff Writer JESSICA SMITH A large Mickey Mouse mailbox familiar to those who travel on Old Forge Road lies on the ground alongside a sign offering a reward for help finding the culprit. MONROE - For years, Mickey has taken a beating. Vandals and ne'er-do-wells have done their best to destroy the unofficial town mascot with instruments of destruction like firecrackers and even bullets, but had not succeeded - until recently. The week before Christmas, an unknown party managed to knock down the 2,200-pound, concrete Mickey Mouse mailbox that has stood as a beacon of whimsicality in front of the Tarantino family's house on Old Forge Road for nearly 20 years. "My whole family is pretty upset about it," George Tarantino said. "My daughter cried. People don't understand. We put our hearts into the thing." George and his wife, Kelly, along with their son and daughter, David, 20, and Britney, 22, built Mickey together, hand mixing the concrete, then pouring it into a plywood frame. For further reinforcement, Mickey's base extended 4 feet into the ground, complete with reinforcement rods. "I just got tired of people knocking down my plastic mailboxes with baseball bats," Tarantino said. Local vandals, however, did not give up so easily. Mickey was struck by a vehicle at his weakest point, causing him to topple over. Tarantino said he knows the damage was done intentionally, because if a driver had smashed into him on accident more remnants of the vehicle would have been left behind. Instead, he thinks the driver pulled up to the structure and slowly toppled it over. The only clue at the scene of the crime was a piece of a plastic license plate frame. Tarantino said he has been able to deduce that Mickey was downed by a small, front-wheel-drive vehicle. "We have a few leads," Tarantino said. "As soon as I do find out who did it, I'm going to go after them." To sweeten the deal for anyone who has information on the Mickey marauder, the Tarantinos are offering a $500 reward. Tarantino said he would have offered more, but his family discouraged him from upping the amount. His insurance company would have paid for the damage, he said, but it is more about the principle. Tarantino said he fully intends to have those responsible prosecuted for what is considered a federal offense. "It would be like somebody slapping one of my kids," he said of the crime. While Mickey is still intact overall, it will take a massive effort to bring him back to a standing position, Tarantino said. "I have friends who keep calling me, telling me they'll help me do it, because it's been there so long. It's like a landmark in Monroe," Tarantino said. For now, next to where the icon lies with an "R.I.P." sign created by Britney Tarantino, a nondescript plastic mailbox temporarily stands in Mickey's place. Britney, an art major at Penn State University, had plans to repaint the statue before it was downed. "All of my neighbors were pretty upset because when they get a pizza delivered, it's 'I'm two houses down from the Mickey Mouse mailbox,' or 'I'm across the street from the Mickey Mouse mailbox,' " Tarantino said. The Tarantinos are asking anyone with information on the crime to visit Tarantino Auto Body at 134 Helmetta Road, or simply leave a note in their mailbox.