Vandals damage ballfield concession building

PALMER — Police are looking for whoever vandalized the youth baseball fields behind Sherrod and Swanson elementary schools.

Palmer Police Detective Sgt. Kelly Turney said police were called Wednesday initially to investigate a broken window on an outbuilding near the Mat-Su Borough School District administration building.

Officers were checking the scene when they came across the destruction dealt to the concession stand, dugouts and other areas of the complex.

“It’s not the first time it’s been broken into, but this is definitely the worst I’ve seen it,” Turney said of the vandalism.

Turney said the broken window and the ballfield vandalism are probably related. It’s unclear, at this point, whether the damage was done Tuesday night or at some time prior.

“The area back in there hasn’t been used in the past couple days,” Turney said Wednesday.

Whoever broke into the concession stand also kicked holes in the drywall to get to other rooms in the building, he said. Vandals tore out drywall, knocked down plywood and spray-painted the walls.

Turney said the graffiti was mostly slogans like “420,” “AK 4 Life” and “AK Rida 4 Life.” There were also swear words and a painting of a marijuana leaf.

They graffiti was painted in yellow and orange from cans found at the facilities. Turney described the damage as disrespectful, citing as example a hole kicked in one of the buildings.

“They used the spray-paint can and painted, ‘HAHA’ with an arrow pointing to the damage that they did,” Turney said.

Turney said the site has been hit before, mostly by kids stealing candy. This time, he said, some equipment may also have been stolen.

The vandals likely left the scene with drywall or paint on their clothing or shoes, he said.

“We’d be looking for parents or relatives who noticed that kids had bright orange or yellow paint on their shoes or had drywall on their clothing to give us a call and let us know,” Turney said.

Contact the Palmer Police Department at 745-4811.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.