 Some protesters resorted to illegal means to demonstrate their opposition to the project . In December 1989 , trees and shrubbery on condemned lots were destroyed in an attempt to prevent them from being transplanted by <unk> . A field office belonging to M.J. Lee Construction Co . , a contractor working on the project , was burglarized on March 4 , 1990 . The perpetrators stole or destroyed tools and poured oil on planning documents . A week later , the fuel lines on heavy equipment were slashed . On the night of April 26 , several vehicles at a Creek Turnpike worksite belonging to M.J. Lee were vandalized ; the vandals smashed windshields and headlights , stole fuel caps , and dumped mud into the fuel tanks . Messages reading " Death to OTA " , " Death to [ Governor Henry ] Bellmon " and " Death to Bartlett " ( who had recently also become a Tulsa city councilman ) were written in mud on the side of a water truck at the site . The vice president of the firm emphasized that the company alone bore the brunt of the estimated $ 10 @,@ 000 ( $ 17 @,@ 900 in 2015 dollars ) financial loss , not OTA , and offered a $ 1 @,@ 000 reward for information leading to the prosecution of the responsible party . Construction signage was also removed or covered up with Tulsans Against Turnpikes signs , and survey markers were relocated . Tulsans Against Turnpikes publicly condemned the vandalism , offering an additional $ 500 reward for information . A member of the group 's board stated " We deplore this kind of cowardly , illegal action . There is no reason for some sick person to take out frustrations on the contractor [ ... ] . " In response to the vandalism , Tulsa police launched an investigation , and OTA stated that Oklahoma Highway Patrol officers would be on patrol in the construction areas . On August 11 , 1990 , a contractor arriving for work discovered a vandal attempting to break the window of a crane . As the employee approached the crane , four people fled the scene . The employee was able to detain two of them , both aged eighteen , until police arrived and cited them for misdemeanor malicious mischief . 
