‘Vandalism for vandalism’s sake’ strikes two Eureka parks

EUREKA – Vandals damaged equipment at two Eureka parks, draining limited resources meant to improve facilities across the city.
Eureka’s Community Services Department found three swings at the park’s playground were broken overnight and equipment removed.
It’ll cost $1,500 to repair. While it may not seem like a lot of money, that represents 30% of the departments $5,000 budget for improvements to all city parks.
Staff also found a dump truck sized load of trash discarded in the duck pond. That pulled the entire crew from performing maintenance at other sites.
And it wasn’t just Sequoia Park.
EPD posted a photo of a man who is suspected of cutting holes in the fence at Jacob Haney Field multiple times most recently Tuesday night.
Community Services Director Miles Slattery said that the department hasn’t necessarily seen an increase in vandalism overall but recent acts have taken a different tone.
“The type of vandalism is kind of random that we’re seeing now. It’s not for any sort of gain or anything like that. Taking off swing sets and having a metal piece off a swing set doesn’t seem to be of any financial gain to anybody but the vandalism that we’re seeing is more just to be destructive,” Slattery said. “We’ve had trees throughout town that have been topped and you know there’s no real gain for that. It’s more just vandalism for vandalism’s sake.”
Slattery said this behavior will likely continue without deterrents like criminal penalties.
If you see vandalism on any property, public or private, you’re asked to call EPD’s non emergency line to file a report.