By Eileen Buckley
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wbfo/local-wbfo-970242.mp3
Buffalo, NY – Vandals hit three Buffalo parks over the weekend. Most of the destruction occurred at Delaware Park's Rose Garden in North Buffalo.
A fountain was broken by vandals in the garden area. But vandals also hit Martin Luther King Park on the East Side and Cazenovia Park in South Buffalo.
Thomas Herrera-Mishler is the President and CEO of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy.
Herrera-Mishler tells WBFO News he's outraged by the damage. He's especially upset with the destruction caused to the Rose Garden fountain.
"To see somebody just whack off the top, and it's not like we can just put it back on again. It's missing. It's gone. Who the heck knows where it is," said Herrera-Mishler.
Vandals also marked up the Marcy Casino at Delaware Park with red graffiti, and caused damage to the playground near the Rose Garden.
"So disheartening to see something that was restored after so many years of being missing," malicious vandalism," said Herrera-Mishler.
Money was raised in recent years to restore the fountain.
In a parks agreement that allows Olmsted to operate the parks for the city, the Conversancy receives one million dollar grant from the City, but it has to raise the rest of the funds for parks up keep.
Herrera-Mishler believes the vandalism is related to the nicer weather that occurred over the weekend.
A Delaware Parks staffer called Buffalo Police Saturday evening where they disbursed a large crowd of youth, drinking and misbehaving at the park. The staffer was later threatened staffer after left the park.