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Vandals trash Island Recreation Center, leave satanic graffiti behind

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Vandals covered walls and basketball courts with obscene graffiti and slashed gaping holes into the dome over the swimming pool at the Island Recreation Center sometime between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Recreation officials are calling it the worst case of vandalism at the center in 20 years.

Marijuana references and anti-police messages were spray-painted on several walls, the center's sign, three box trucks and the basketball court, where a $22,000 resurfacing project had just been finished Wednesday morning, the center's staff said.

The graffiti on the trucks contained expletives denouncing the police, while markings other places encouraged drug use. Someone also tagged the word "Gumtree" on a wall. On the basketball court, several symbols were found, including a pitchfork and a design that resembled a pentagram.

The incidents happened sometime between 9 p.m. Wednesday, when the center closed, and 5 a.m. Thursday, when a maintenance man arrived, center executive director Frank Soule said.

The worst destruction was at the pool, where the vandals used a cutting tool to slash large slices in the side of the inflatable dome, which is used to keep the pool warm in the winter. It's the third time the dome has been slashed in recent months, but this week's attack was so severe that the center had to take down the structure Thursday and turn away its regular swimmers. The damage will cost about $5,900 to repair, Soule said.

"Today was the worst we've ever had," said Soule, paint-roller in hand as he covered up graffiti. "This is going to be devastating to the local swim team."

The incidents were the latest in a string of crimes that have plagued the recreation center in the past six months.

In December, the dome was slashed for the first time, though the center was able to repair the $2,500 damage. Then in January, one of the center's golf carts was stolen and a taunting note was spray-painted on the maintenance shed's door. In another incident, a small maintenance trailer was stolen after a lock was cut. The golf cart was later found in Hilton Head Plantation, but the trailer is still missing.

Center staff had cleaned off most of the graffiti by 11:30 a.m. Thursday. They must order replacement flaps and fly in a specialist from St. Louis to repair the dome, Soule said.

The center hopes to get the pool up and running by the weekend, Soule said. But the dome was scheduled to come down for the season March 8.

The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office has stepped up patrols around the recreation center in recent months in response to the surge in vandalism, but stopping graffiti is an ongoing battle, said Capt. Toby McSwain, head of the southern enforcement division.

"The thing is, the graffiti has been all over the island," he said. "It's been something we've been constantly chasing."

Deputies have arrested some juveniles for graffiti in the past, but the problem persists, McSwain said. Graffiti was also reported this week on the Cross Island Parkway overpass.

The Sheriff's Office suspects most of the perpetrators are young people, and that the spray-painted gang symbols likely were from imitators instead of signs of actual gang activity, he said.

"It's always an area we try to be proactive in," McSwain said. "It's a big island. We can't be there all time."

Meanwhile, the center is dumbfounded by the streak of crime at what should be a place that strengthens community spirit.

"In all likelihood, the people who may have done this probably use these courts," Soule said. "It's extremely frustrating, since August, to keep up with all the vandalism here."

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