An alleged attack on multiple electrical substations left over 60 percent of North Carolina's Moore County without power Saturday night in what local authorities are investigating as a "criminal occurrence."

What's happening: Over 40,000 homes and businesses in Moore County, which is located about 70 miles southwest of Raleigh, were plunged into darkness starting at 7 pm ET on Saturday night, the Moore County Sheriff's Office wrote Saturday in a Facebook post.

• "As utility companies began responding to the different substations, evidence was discovered that indicated that intentional vandalism had occurred at multiple sites," the office wrote.

The Southern Pines Fire and Rescue Chief Mike Cameron told The Pilot of Southern Pines that the power stations had been shot at.

Duke Energy said it was "investigating signs of potential vandalism related to these outages," but has not given additional details about what took the substations offline.

• Duke Energy said power was expected to be restored by Sunday evening, AP reported.

Gov. Roy Cooper (D) on Sunday tweeted that he had "spoken with Duke Energy and state law enforcement officials" about the incident and that the state was providing support as needed."

Between the lines: The power went out during a drag show in downtown Southern Pines that attracted a significant amount of protesters and police presence.

One of the leading protesters, Emily Grace Rainey, claimed on social media that sheriff's deputies questioned her about...

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