Authorities responding to a vandalism call on Tuesday discovered that a pipe bomb had exploded at an XTO Energy well site on Bureau of Land Management land about 6 miles north of Piedra Vista High School, the Farmington Daily Times reported.

The explosion destroyed a device at the gas well that transmits wireless signals reporting the well's production output, but that output wasn't disrupted, according to the San Juan County Sheriff's Office.

XTO Energy operates more than 14,000 well sites in the San Juan Basin, the Daily Times said.

"I wouldn't be at all surprised if somebody's trying to make a statement that oil companies are responsible for all the bad things in the world," Dugan Production Co. petroleum engineer John Roe told the Daily Times.

Remnants of the bomb are being analyzed by the Farmington Police Department bomb squad and the FBI, and investigators continued to probe the bombing scene on Thursday, the paper reported.

Anyone with information is asked to call San Juan County Crime Stoppers at (505) 334-TIPS, where callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward. 

But the sheriff's office is calling the explosion an isolated incident, the paper reported.

"We have nothing to indicate it's tied into a bigger plot," sheriff's Lt. Tyler Truby told the Daily Times on Thursday. "We're going to take it very seriously, but we don't think there's any need for mass alarm." 

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