Volunteers will be fixing soccer equipment at the East Lake Community Park in Sorrento this weekend after officials say vandals caused about $10,000 worth of damage.
- Vandals broke into East Lake Community Park
- Portable bathrooms, tables toppled; soccer nets cut
- Officials say damage estimated at $10,000
Park officials say on the morning of March 11, they discovered someone had climbed the 8-foot high chain link fence that surrounds the park to break in and then cut the mesh screening by the baseball fields. Vandals pulled out storm water grates, flipped over portable bathrooms and tables and sliced more than a dozen soccer goal nets, officials said.
The nets are used by hundreds of kids and belong to the Lake County Soccer Club.
"I don't understand why someone would come out to a county park and be destructive like this,” said Lisa Durant, director of the Lake County Soccer Club. “I mean it's here for the benefit of the community, it's here for the benefit of the children.”
DuRant said vandals also destroyed the club’s sponsor banners, which help raise scholarship money for kids who can't afford to play.
DuRant said she posted pictures of the damage to social media and, within hours, the club raised the money to fix their soccer goals.
It will be hosting a net replacement work day on Sunday, March 19 at 4 p.m. at the park.
The county has made temporary repairs to the other damage, but so far no arrests have been made.