COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — The amount of vandalism happening at Colorado Springs parks is way above what is tracked as typical.
“This year has been about double of what we normally see,” said Park Maintenance and Operations Manager, Eric Becker.
It is happening at parks in all areas of the city.
Near the pickleball courts in Monument Valley Park there is now a black mark on a slab of cement where someone burned portable restrooms to the ground and destroyed a recently installed protective covering made of metal.
Surveillance video shows a group of young men going into the restrooms at Panorama Park on the southeast side of the city.
Moments later one of them exits and forcefully uproots one of the recently planted trees.
The tree is then taken into the bathroom and shoved in a toilet.
“[Vandalism] escalated earlier this year, we've had about nine trees that have been broken and, you know, thrown away, put it into the toilet in the restroom. The cost to replace a tree like that can vary a little bit between 1,500 dollars to 2,000 to replace,” said Becker.
A restroom in Venezia Park on the north end of the city has also been hit.
“From what the camera showed us, a couple of young juvenile folks that got up there and started breaking in and spray-painting graffiti. Broke a lot of the fixtures inside, the light fixtures, the toilet paper holders, anything that they could break.”
An issue less visible to park goers is parts from sprinkler systems broken away and stolen, likely to be sold as scrap metal.
According to Becker it all adds up to a lot of money.
“Backflows that have been stolen, copper wire that's been taken, electric transformer that was burned down, the enclosures, the bathrooms, the trees, $125,000.”
The damage total is nearly double what is budgeted each year to counter vandalism.
“When you have an uptick in vandalism like we've experienced this year, something else has to give,” said Becker.
Colorado Springs Parks currently has a backlog of repairs and projects waiting for funding.
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