sjt, I just saw your question about possible tools. The guy I confronted--who it is possible but unlikely was not the culprit--had only a small backpack, which could have held a hacksaw or a battery powered angle grinder (but an angle grinder would have attracted attention in that location), but only a very small pair of bolt cutters. I attached a picture of the cut, which will show how bad a photographer I am but also how clean the cut is. Whatever he used, it didn't slip.