A $40 million yacht owned by the family of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was set adrift by vandals at a dock in Ohio last weekend, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage to the vessel, according to the Toledo Blade.
The SeaQuest’s captain said his crew awoke Sunday to find the boat had been untied from its mooring at the Huron Boat Basin and was floating away, according to a police report obtained by HuffPost.
The crew was “able to gain control of the ship, but not before it struck the dock with its Starboard forward section,” the police report stated. Damage to the yacht consisted of “several large scratches and scrapes,” which the captain estimated would cost between $5,000 and $10,000 to repair, according to the police report.
Huron City Police Chief Robert Lippert confirmed to HuffPost that the yacht belonged to the DeVos family. He said DeVos had not been aboard at the time, but could not confirm whether other family members had been.
Representatives for DeVos and her family did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s requests for comment.
Lippert would not speculate on a potential motive, citing the ongoing investigation. Police had not yet obtained surveillance video of the incident, but were following up on a few potential leads, Lippert said.
“Had there been different wind or more wind, [the yacht] could have certainly floated a lot further than it did,” Lippert told HuffPost.
The 163-foot yacht is one of 10 boats owned by the DeVos family, the Blade reported. Betsy DeVos is one of the Trump administration’s wealthiest officials, with an estimated net worth of around $1 billion, according to Forbes. Her father founded Prince Corporation, a successful automotive business, and her father-in-law co-founded Amway marketing company.
DeVos visited Toledo, Ohio, earlier this month to tour the Correctional Treatment Facility and Penta Career Center, according to her public schedule. Her role as secretary of education has been intensely criticized by public school advocates and LGBTQ activists, who condemn her efforts to strengthen “school choice” initiatives, as well as her decision to rollback LGBTQ student protections imposed under the Obama administration.
This article has been updated with additional details about DeVos.