LEE — Local authorities are looking for the vandal or vandals who defaced the skate park at the Lee Athletic Field.
Acting Lee Police Chief Craig DeSantis confirmed Sunday night that police are investigating the spray-painting of the concrete structure built by the Kiwanis Club of Lee 10 years ago and donated to the town. The sign that the Kiwanis erected to indicate that the park is dedicated to the youths of Lee also was heavily spray-painted.
DeSantis says police will review video of the playground, as there are three cameras at the pavilion. One of the cameras is pointed at the skate park, one is directed at the tennis courts and one is aimed at playground equipment, according to Kathy Hall of the Lee Youth Commission, which oversees the town’s public playgrounds.
“We think it may have happened Saturday night, as officers [on Sunday] talked with some kids using the skate park who said the paint wasn’t there on Saturday,” DeSantis told The Eagle.
Hall says the paint can be removed from the concrete, but the sign is ruined.
“For anybody to touch that sign that has been destroyed a second time is heartbreaking,” she said.
A few years ago, the sign was vandalized and had to be replaced, costing the Kiwanis several hundred dollars, Hall noted. She added that there was no other damage to the athletic field, the town’s flagship recreational area.
Anyone with information about the vandalism can contact the Lee Police Department at 413-243-5530.