Bellingham looking to prosecute vandals who did this to parks office, vehicles
Vandals apparently angered at the recent removal of homeless encampments from City Hall and public parks attacked the Bellingham Parks and Recreation Department’s operations office, causing what could amount to more than $5,000 in damage, police said.
Parks Department buildings and vehicles were spray-painted and suffered other damage late Sunday, April 4, or early Monday, April 5, said Bellingham Police Lt. Claudia Murphy.
“We are actively investigating this case as felonies,” Bellingham Mayor Seth Fleetwood told The Bellingham Herald.
“When we catch whoever is doing this they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and we will seek restitution judgments against them. It’s absolutely unacceptable behavior that will not be tolerated,” he said in an email.
Parks Operations offices are at 1400 Woburn St., near Lakeway Drive.
It’s also the site of a community garden and soon will be home to a village of tiny homes for those without permanent housing.
“This seems to defy logic and directly defeat their purpose as it only causes ire for the public as opposed to gain any support whatsoever,” Murphy told The Bellingham Herald.
“Cleanup and repairs began immediately to get the vehicles back into service, as our parks employees need them to get their jobs done,” Murphy said.
In addition to the spray-paint damage, building windows were broken, tires on departmental cars and trucks were slashed and building locks were damaged with glue, Murphy said.
And, eggs were thrown at the buildings, cars and trucks.
Initial damage estimates were about $3,200 but could total more than $5,000, she said.
Spray-painted messages included vulgar language and slurs against city officials and had an obvious political motive, she said.
This story was originally published April 7, 2021 at 1:53 PM.
