One time I worked for a small bank that had digital signs out front at all their branches. These were connected to the network via a CAT5E cable. At one branch, every time it would storm the end attached to the sign would be practically vaporized. This went on for a couple of years. I put a surge suppressor between the sign and building which helped with less severe storms but didn't completely eliminate the problem.

Oddly enough, neither the sign nor any other equipment was ever damaged. Just the cable end. We couldn't figure out what was going on. We hired an electrical engineer to look at it and best he could tell, lightening was striking a nearby flagpole and traveling through a water main directly underneath it to the sign. The solution ended up being pretty simple. Replaced the CAT5E cable with fiber. Problem solved.