Vandals leave more than $20,000 in damage to Carol Stream parks

This time of year, it's not uncommon for vandals to leave their mark in neighborhood parks.

But a rash of vandalism has crossed a line in Carol Stream, resulting in more than $20,000 in damage, park district officials say.

Vandalism has damaged parks with such regularity that Shane Hamilton wrote a 474-word letter with a public plea for help curbing the problem. The park district republished his letter last week on social media.

"We had about a four-week stretch where something was happening almost daily," said Hamilton, parks and facilities director.

An unknown number of vandals left the worst damage at a bathroom at Armstrong Park about a month ago, "above and beyond anything" Hamilton has seen in the field.

"They ripped sinks off the walk. They ripped soap dispensers off the wall," he said. "They urinated in sinks. They were honestly just there to destroy property."

Areas of Community Park and Hampe Park also have had damage from what appears to be random acts of vandalism, not a coordinated effort, Hamilton said Friday.

Carol Stream police suspect the vandalism stems from juvenile mischief and teen angst while schools remain closed and youths are left without an outlet during the coronavirus pandemic.

During the summer, police step up patrols in parks with officers on bikes. Some of the cases likely happened overnight, Deputy Police Chief John Jungers said.

"It's definitely more than usual," Jungers said.

Park district photos show broken tree grates and bathroom door handles, heavily dented trash cans, spray-paint damage and shattered plexiglass in a kiosk at Armstrong Park.

"It's really just been the destruction of property, breaking picnic tables, attempting to light picnic tables on fire, smashing signs, bending signs, breaking playground equipment, smashing bathrooms up," Hamilton said.

The district will be able to recover a significant portion of damage costs through insurance.

"This destruction adds up very quickly when you're in a park setting," Hamilton said. "Nothing is cheap anymore."

But it's not just an expense. Repairs and cleanup efforts have taken "countless staff hours" away from routine maintenance, Hamilton wrote in the letter.

"Simply put - when we are repairing vandalized parks, we can't focus on delivering the great outdoor spaces you deserve," he wrote.

The issue seems to be diminishing, Hamilton said, but in his letter, he also asked park users to keep an eye out for any vandalism and report it to the park district at (630) 784-6100.