Vandalism is yet again being blamed for a major phone and internet disruption Monday -- the second such incident since July 13 when internet service for much of the North Slave was knocked out for most of the day.

Cable, home-phone, internet and LTE services across Yellowknife and the NWT were severely disrupted Monday by an "act of vandalism" announced late in the afternoon.

The outages began at approximately 9 a.m.

Andrew Anderson, director of communications with Northwestel, warned customers to brace for "several hours" of disrupted service with limited backup.

With service restored at around 5 p.m., released a statement saying they are investigating the incident.

"NT Federal Investigations Unit (FIU) are investigating a second major disruptions to communications services in the Northwest Territories," said Marie York-Condon, media relations adviser with the .

The service disruption came from a damaged fibre optics line between Behchoko and Yellowknife.

"The has opened an investigation in what seems to be a deliberate act of vandalism to the fibre optic cable," said York-Condon.

is seeking information from anyone who may have been travelling on Highway 3 between Yellowknife and Behchoko around 9 a.m. this morning.

"If you noticed any suspicious activity or have any dash-cam footage, are requesting you call your local detachment."

"We continue to take threats to our critical infrastructure very seriously," said Staff Sgt. Dean Riou, the non-commissioned officer in charge of the NT Federal Investigations Unit.

"These senseless acts have impacted communities and affected the safety and comfort of the citizens of the NWT. Someone may have seen something or would know someone who would have access to the fibre optics cables. We implore you to bring forward information that would lead police to identify the person or persons responsible for today's outage."

The are saying the investigation is in its infancy and are unable to determine whether Monday's incident is related to the last major internet outage on July 13.

" is investigating any potential links," said York-Condon.

Anyone with information is advised to contact Yellowknife at 669-1111, contact Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-8477 nwtnutips.com, (click on "submit a web tip") or text: nwtnutips to 274637.