Abandoned buildings plague Detroit

DETROIT, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- The thousands of abandoned buildings in Detroit have become a prime attraction for everyone from vandals and scavengers to urban explorers, police say.

With more than 80,000 abandoned buildings and lots, Motown has more vacant space than nearly any other big city in the United States, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The city's police department doesn't have the time or the resources to deal with all the people rummaging around abandoned buildings, says spokesman John Roach.

Karen Nagher, executive director of a local non-profit preservation group, says it infuriates her that people come from all over to poke around Detroit.

"Piece by piece, they're disassembling those buildings, making it harder and harder to restore them," she says.

In September someone pushed an old dump truck from the fourth floor of an abandoned Packard auto plant.

Videographer Stephen McGee captured the event on tape.

Two boats and the remains of a yellow Volkswagen also left the upper floors of the Packard plant.