Recently the Item visited Walkiah Bluff Water Park to obtain information for a feature story.

During the visit it was noted that the park offers a lot of great things to people with various interests. There is a boat launch, playground for the kids and campsites for recreational vehicles. If you enjoy a primitive type of camping, there are sites for that as well.

However, there is also a negative side to the park, vandalism. According to reports from local residents, the vandalism is a continuous problem.

Most of the damage includes graffiti and destruction to the restrooms. Residents also reported damage to the park’s lighting system, water fountain and picnic tables.

For most people it’s hard to imagine why anyone would want to spend their time and energy destroying property that essentially belongs to them. Sure, they can’t take it home, but this is a public park, so from that perspective the vandals have an ownership interest.

The worst part is these destructive acts affect everyone else. Once functioning restrooms that boaters could have used during a rest stop are now boarded up because every time they were repaired, vandals destroyed them again.

There is a quote from the Batman series that goes, “some men just want to watch the world burn.” We don’t know if it was a man or woman who performed these acts, but the quote fits. For some reason there are people in this world who would rather destroy than create.

We hope one day that every aspect of the park can be repaired, and when that day comes everyone will help keep it that way.