×
×
homepage logo

Senseless vandalism a black eye for city

By Staff | Jul 24, 2002

Once again, vandals have struck in Tonganoxie. And it wasn’t a pretty sight.

Apparently, on Sunday night someone thought tossing a catfish and some goldfish into Chieftain Pool would be a great idea. A somewhat interesting prank.

But the fish lovers also decided some manure would liven things up a little bit more. And that’s where they were wrong.

Dumping manure in the city pool meant that pool employees had to shut the pool down for a day. Too bad. No swimming lessons. No cooling off on a hot summer day.

Workers applied chemicals to the pool on Monday. And the water purity level was fine Tuesday morning, according to City Administrator Shane Krull, who estimated the city lost several hundred dollars in revenue because the pool was closed.

It is so difficult to understand these senseless acts of vandalism that occur in Tonganoxie.

Earlier this month, at least two soon-to-be sixth-graders apparently broke windows and then entered Tonganoxie Elementary School. These two youngsters will be prosecuted, according to school Superintendent Richard Erickson. And that’s as it should be.

The school district and the city, once Sunday night’s vandals are caught should send a message that destroying public property won’t be tolerated in Tonganoxie.