Washington County Enterprise-Leader
City Offers Reward For Information On Vandalism
PRAIRIE GROVE — Prairie Grove is offering a $ 250 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the suspect(s) who vandalized Prairie Grove’s skate park on East Butler Street.
Chuck Wiley, public works manager, f iled a complaint about the vandalism to Prairie Grove Police Department. The police report said that the interior brick walls around the park had been spray painted in several places with three different colors, orange, red and blue.
A city employee found an orange spray can in a trash can at the park, and police were able to lift three partial fingerprints from the can, according to the report. This, along with the can, has been entered into evidence.
Wiley said the city recently spent about $ 5,200 on the skate park. A new piece of equipment has been installed and the existing equipment has been resurfaced.
“It’s aggravating,” Wiley said. “It’s a goal this spring and early summer to do a lot on our public parks. We think our parks are a real focal point for the community.”
Wiley said the person who reported the vandalism to the city believes it happened after dark March 8. The person did not see anything on the evening of March 8 but then saw it at 4 p.m. the next day.
The city purchased graffiti- removing cleaner to remove the spray paint on the brick walls and is also using a power washer to clean up the vandalism.
Mayor Sonny Hudson said the skate park does not have any security cameras but probably will in the future.
“It’s frustrating,” Hudson said. “It’s unnecessary and it’s aggravating. Why do people want to destroy something that is there possibly for you to use? You put all this time, effort and money into something like this, and there’s someone who wants to destroy it.”
The city has had problems with vandalism, mainly graffiti, at the skate park over the years. In the fall of 2012, suspects painted graffiti at the park. The city closed the park temporarily in December 2011, because of profanity and gang references painted on the equipment.