Protesters Tear Down Fence and Trash U.S. Navy Vehicles at Vieqeus, Puerto Rico

VIEQUES, Puerto Rico - Hundreds of protesters broke through a fence at the Vieques bombing range, waving the Caribbean island's flag and destroying U.S Navy vehicles as they celebrated the end to nearly 60 years of U.S. bombing exercises. The militants stole Navy vehicles and smashed the lights and windows with sledgehammers. They turned over a Humvee towing a boat and set them ablaze, and also burned two American flags.

"Get out, Navy!" they shouted.

The Navy on Wednesday handed its more than 15,000 acres of land on eastern Vieques to the Department of the Interior, which will help transform the range into a wildlife refuge.

President Bush announced in 2001 that the Navy would stop using the island this year.

"We are here today to mark the beginning of a new era in peace and prosperity for Vieques," Gov. Sila Calderon said Wednesday to thunderous applause. "It is a moment of great joy, for we have achieved our dream."

She announced she will ask Congress to put Vieques on the National Priority List for a cleanup of the bombing range.

The eastern third of the land will be administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, forming the largest federal wildlife refuge in Puerto Rico. Another 3,100 acres, site of a former munitions warehouse on Vieques' western end, was given up by the Navy earlier.

In the 1940s, the United States bought up 25,000 acres — about two-thirds of Vieques — to make way for a bombing range, forcing out families and farmers with scant compensation. Military exercises began in 1947.

However, some activists now want that land turned over to Puerto Rican authorities. They say islanders should be allowed to open inns and environmentally friendly lodges there to boost tourism and help unemployment that runs at about 12 percent.

Simmering local resentment to the Navy exercises exploded in anger and protests when two 500-pound bombs were dropped off target on the range and killed civilian guard David Sanes in 1999. Protesters stormed the range and occupied it for a year before federal marshals forcibly removed them. The exercises resumed, restricted to dummy bombs, but protesters continued to invade.

The cause drew celebrities including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., New York civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton, U.S. Congressman Luis Gutierrez of Chicago and actor Edward James Olmos. All were jailed for trespassing on federal land, along with more 1,000 local protesters.

Sharpton, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, arrived in Puerto Rico Wednesday to join the festivities and said he felt vindicated after spending 90 days in prison in 2001.

Bush "did a good thing by finally listening to the people," said Sharpton.

Protesters say the bombing has fouled the environment, stunted an economy limited to fishing and tourism, and damaged the health of the 9,300 islanders.

The Navy denies its practices have been harmful.