Vandals hit baseball fields

PALMER — Police are looking for whoever tore up the little league fields behind Sherrod and Swanson Elementary Schools.

Palmer Police Detective Sgt. Kelly Turney said that police were called out initially to investigate a broken window on an outbuilding near the Matanuska-Susitna School District’s Administration building Wednesday.

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

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

Turney said the broken window and the ball field vandalism are probably related.

The detective said it’s unclear, at this point, whether the damage was done Tuesday night or 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, he said, also kicked holes in the drywall to get to other rooms in the building. They 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 swear words and a painting of a marijuana leaf.

The graffiti was painted in yellow and orange from cans found in 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 around, he said, some equipment may have been stolen.

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

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

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