It is the first major vandalism at the complex since it opened, Bradshaw said.
“The wooden fences at the end of the (bocce ball) courts – they were smashed up, parts ripped off. There were big rocks nearby,’’ Bradshaw said.
In a Facebook post, Kim Nuxhall, chairman of the Joe Nuxhall Miracle League Fields, said the vandalism occurred between 5:30-6:30 p.m., Friday.
After reviewing security camera footage, Bradshaw said it looked like three our four youth who had been skateboarding nearby “started kicking at the fences, jumping” before grabbing rocks and bashing the wood planks.
“We’ve been touched by the outpouring of support we received,’’ Bradshaw said.
“Within minutes (of posting on social media) people started offering to pay to replace the fencing or rebuild it. We’re really fortunate a good thing will come out of a bad situation.”
Eric Schmidt of Playground Equipment Services, offered to completely repair the damage at no cost, Bradshaw said. The work should be completed by the end of November.
Although there is no official estimate yet of the damage, Bradshaw said it would be “thousands of dollars – it could be as high $5,000 to $10,000.”
Wednesday, security footage of the incident will be enlarged and turned over to Fairfield police.
“The irony is the Marty (Brennaman, former Reds announcer) statue being damage and something at the fields happening so close together. It’s astounding,’’ Bradshaw said.
The area damaged was right next to a “no trespassing” sign.
“Even if we don’t catch these kids, I hope we scare them with the (media and social media) coverage,” Bradshaw said.
Prior to this incident, the only vandalism at the complex was graffiti on a trash can in one incident and graffiti on a sidewalk in another incident.
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