Check-in services for Southwest Airlines customers at Sacramento International Airport were offline for hours and flights were delayed Thursday after somebody cut an AT&T telecommunications cable.

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said it appeared to be a “deliberate” act and was investigating it as a crime.

The cable, located outside the boundaries of the airport property, was cut at around 1:20 a.m., airport spokesperson Scott Johnston told the Sacramento Bee.

The AT&T internet and phone cable was about as wide as an average garden hose and was attached to a telephone pole.

It was cut cleanly in one place around 4 to 5 feet above the ground, which suggested to law enforcement that the culprit knew exactly what they were doing.

“It’s not like it was some loose hanging wire. It required some level of knowledge and or expertise to know what to cut, and how to do it,” SCSO spokesperson Amar Gandhi told the New York Times.

The internet service was restored by about 11:35 a.m. local time, the airport posted on X.

“We’ve restored internet and wireless service to affected customers in the Sacramento International Airport area following a fiber cut which appears to be an act of vandalism or attempted theft. We appreciate the patience of our customers as we worked to make repairs as quickly as possible,” AT&T told KOVR-TV.

The airport initially said that Delta Air Lines was affected, but issued a correction clarifying that it was only Southwest’s check-in services that were impacted by the slashed cable.

In all, 111 flights were delayed in and out of Sacramento International Airport on Thursday. Of those, 57 were departing flights and 54 were arriving flights. Southwest Airlines accounted for 88 of the delays, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.