PENDLETON — Donnie Meyer can recall as a youngster playing on swings and the ball diamond in Falls Park.
But the longtime resident, former town employee and director of maintenance at Falls Park said he’s never seen graffiti as extensive as that which began to reveal itself to him at about 10 a.m. Sunday, when he started receiving phone calls.
“This is the worst,” Meyer said. “I’ve never seen it this bad.”
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The perpetrator used black and red spray paint, scrawling phrases and images in about 25 locations throughout the park, including at the Pendleton Sports Complex, at restrooms and on paved surfaces elsewhere, and on a bridge over Fall Creek.
Some of the phrases were not ostensibly offensive: “Cool girl club,” “No boys” and “Smells like teen spirit.”
But many others — not suitable for print here — were crass and obscene, and at least one was a racial slur.
There were images of genitalia, and in one display on the sports complex patio — perhaps the most disturbing one — a frog had been killed and circled with paint with the phrase “He died for your sins.”
Besides the offensive message, “that’s animal cruelty,” Meyer said.
Pendleton Police Chief Marc Farrer said the police are investigating. He encouraged anyone with any information to call the police department (765-778-3933).
He said the department is interested in any video footage people might have from things such as home surveillance systems.
The police patrol the park regularly, Farrer said, yet vandalism in the park is not uncommon.
“We’ve had vandalism in the park every year, something,” Farrer said.
But this case does stand out.
“They definitely vandalized a lot of property.”
As of late afternoon Tuesday, Meyer, with the help of others, had been working long hours working on cleaning up what he could.
The spray paint was coming off metal and wood surfaces but not concrete and block.
“It’s either going to have to be sandblasted and painted or primed and painted. It’s going to be very expensive,” Meyer said.
Bryan Williams, president of Pendleton-Fall Creek Board of Parks and Recreation, called the circumstances “very frustrating,” considering all the work done the past few months, including clean up from the May tornado and park improvement projects.
The park board’s regular meeting was set for 6 p.m. Wednesday (after press time), and park security was added to the agenda, with Farrer planning to attend.
“It’s such a pointless act of vandalism,” Williams said. “Now it affects everyone who wants to use the facility.”
That’s a point Meyer said motivates him not only to remove the graffiti as quickly as possible, but also to find the culprit.
“I have no idea (who did it),” Meyer said. “I would sure like to find out.”
He said he wants whoever did to be held accountable.
“I want everyone to understand we don’t appreciate it,” he said, stressing that children — like he once did — play in the park. “Parents should not have to explain some of the things that were spraypainted on the concrete and walls.”
In the meantime, “we’ll continue our cleanup efforts and make the park beautiful soon.”
