VILLA PARK, Calif. -- At least one vandal apparently armed with a baseball bat smashed equipment in the Villa Park Little League snack bar, authorities said Monday.
Soda, popcorn, pretzel and coffee machines were damaged or destroyed in Friday night's attack, as was a refrigerator-freezer, said Chris Hansen, president of the Villa Park Little League. A nearby bathroom also was damaged, and the total property loss was placed at $4,000.
The Little League building is on an athletic field at Cerro Villa Middle School, 17852 Serrano Ave.
The vandal or vandals emptied the freezer of food and smeared ketchup and mustard on walls, the ceiling and floor, Hansen said. Profanities were written with spilled condiments.
A parent who noticed a bathroom door open discovered the wreckage on Saturday and called Hansen, he said. He said he saw water seeping from under a wall, then noticed water fixtures had been smashed.
"I was just taken aback by the damage," according to Hansen, who said a vandal apparently used a baseball bat found at the facility to inflict the damage.
Hansen said he called the sheriff's department. Crime scene investigators went over the facility on Sunday, measuring shoe prints and looking for other evidence, Hansen said.
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About $10 in change was missing, which led authorities to classify the crime as burglary/vandalism, Hansen said.
Some of the shoe prints found at the scene appeared to be that of a minor, Hansen said, but authorities declined to speculate on age or number of attackers.
Parents cleaned up some of the mess and professional crews will clean up the rest. Little League officials will "try and find the money and a way to replace" the equipment, said Hansen.
He said the Little League season begins in February. The snack bar, he said, "is the social center" of the Little League group, which serves about 450 youths.
