Restored Ventura abandoned, then scrapped in hangar demolition

Hi all,
This story has popped up on Vintage Aviation News: a former RCAF Lockheed PV-1 Ventura was purchased by the city of Irvine, California some years ago and restored by a team of volunteers from the Flying Leatherneck Historical Foundation for a museum at the former US Marine Corps base at El Toro. After the restoration was completed (here’s a VAN story about it from last October) the aircraft “was left to rot and collect dust in this hangar and was subject to vandalism by trespassers” as the rest of the site was developed. Then a few weeks ago the Ventura was scrapped when the hangar it was in was demolished by the same city that bought it – the CEO of the foundation wasn’t made aware of this until after the fact.

The story includes images of the wrecked aircraft and leaves the reader wondering who gave the go-ahead for this travesty to happen…Venturas aren’t exactly thin on the ground but this really makes my blood boil.