Vandals have caused thousands of dollars in damage at several parks in Finksburg and Westminster during the last several weeks. Thieves also stole electrical wiring used to light the athletic fields.
Frank Roelke, president of Finksburg Baseball & Softball and vice president of the Central Carroll Rec Council, said there were four instances of theft along with vandalism and other damage at Deer Park in Westminster and Sandymount Park in Finksburg.
Robert Hicks, executive director of the county’s Department of Recreation and Parks, stated in an email that the damage to both parks has been addressed.
“The damage at both parks was related to electrical wiring,” Hicks said. “The county is pursuing burying the ground boxes to prevent future unauthorized access to the athletic field wiring.”
“We had a complete outage at Deer Park Community Park, Memorial Field, where every pole was unhooked and all the wire was stolen,” Roelke said. “We have also had a repeated break-ins and equipment theft at Deer Park; smaller less substantial thefts.”
Roelke said 500 kids participate in the baseball program. Repairs needed to be made since the theft of wiring limited play to daylight hours only.
The cost of the repairs was either handled by the county or the recreation league. Repairs at Memorial Field alone cost $18,000, he said.
Roelke said the council has about 1,000 kids playing i baseball, soccer and lacrosse this spring.
The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office said that there have been no arrests related to the vandalism or thefts.
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