Key West cops seek 2 who burned famous Southernmost Point buoy

KEY WEST — Police are searching for two people who burned a part of Key West’s famous Southernmost Point buoy early New Year’s Day after setting a fire near the tourist attraction.

Authorities said two males lit a Christmas tree on fire in front of the buoy around 3:30 a.m. Saturday and the flames charred sections of the colorful, 4-ton cement monument that reads “90 miles to Cuba, Southernmost Point, Continental U.S.A.”

Archival webcam images of the buoy from a marketing company shows two people lighting the tree on fire near the marker, with the flames leaving a large black burn mark on the monument.

The webcam showed tourists gathering for pictures later Saturday near the damaged buoy.

The red, yellow, black and white marker resembles a giant marine navigational buoy. It proclaims that Key West is 90 miles from Havana. Artists restored the monument after it was damaged during Hurricane Irma in 2017.