Following a spike in vandalism at the baseball fields in Cape Coral, Fla., the community learned this weekend that someone destroyed the fields.
The Cape Coral National Cal Ripken Baseball League parents learned Sunday that ballpark property at the Jason Verdow Memorial Park baseball fields was ruined, WFTX-TV reported.
R.J. Dempsey, a baseball coach and parent, told the news station that multiple things at the fields were targeted, including the electronic announcement system.
"We came to the park. We found the speed limit sign displayed on the centerfield scoreboard and the picnic tables overturned and the PA system was overturned," Dempsey said.
The incident over the weekend wasn’t the first time vandals struck the park; WFTX-TV reported that the bathrooms had previously been destroyed.
Holly Ross, a baseball mom and dugout coach, said the fact that vandals keep targeting the place where the community’s children come to learn and have fun is especially disheartening.
"It is just sad,” Ross told WFTX-TV. “It's sad that someone would think it fun to go out and damage property, but it is worse to do it where all these kids come to play. I mean, this is their second home.”
Dempsey said the park is looking to upgrade security to protect the fields “so maybe we have cameras on the field where we can see everything that goes on in the park. Maybe some better lighting in the middle of the fields.”
The Cape Coral baseball league relies on registration and concession stand sales to run the program. The league is looking to set up a GoFundMe to help raise money to increase security.
