Monongahela Police Investigating Wave Of Vandalism In Westmoreland Co.
WESTMORELAND COUNTY (KDKA) -- Police in Westmoreland County are looking for the people responsible for a wave of vandalism in Monongahela over the weekend.
Residents woke up Sunday morning to find that their cars and homes had been tagged with red spray paint.
"Our first call was Sunday morning at approximately 10 o'clock in the morning, a lady said she had some vandalism to her vehicle," said Monongahela Police Chief Brian Tempest.
While responding to the initial call, officers were flagged down by other victims. Police discovered ten separate acts of vandalism in the area of Vine, Union and Elmira streets. Tempest believes several kids are the culprits.
"There were 5 juveniles Sunday morning at approximately 4 a.m. that were seen in the area," he said.
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The chief showed KDKA's Amy Wadas some of the areas that were hit -- including a memorial stone at the Mounds Park and playground. The vandals painted lines, obscene words and swastikas.
Even the mayor's property was damaged...
"Going down the alley by where the swastika was, not too far from that is our mayor's house, and they spray-painted his fence," Tempest said.
Despite the widespread graffiti, Tempest believes these were just random acts of vandalism.
"It appeared like at first they were doing car doors, and when they do that, they'll go in and look for loose change, but when the doors were locked they started spray-painting them," he said.
So far, there's no estimate on the damage caused. Police are reviewing some security video in hopes of identifying those responsible.
In the meantime, anyone with information on the vandals is asked to call Monongahela Police.