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'Just ridiculous': Laurel park bathroom vandalized with offensive graffiti

Posted at 9:18 AM, May 08, 2023
and last updated 2023-05-08 11:18:57-04

LAUREL - The City of Laurel spent most of Sunday cleaning up a bathroom at Thompson Park after it was covered in offensive vandalism over the weekend.

Nearly every inch of the bathroom was covered in spray-painted racial and homophobic slurs, as well as graphic pictures of male genitalia.

City maintenance employee Troy Clifton was the man in charge of cleaning up the vandalism.

"It's disgusting to be quite honest with you," Clifton said. "I don't even know how else to describe it really."

Clifton said that unfortunately, it's not the only case of vandalism in the city, however, this instance was different.

"We've been seeing it quite a bit all over town, but nothing to this extent," Clifton said. "I understand kids will be kids, but this isn't kids' stuff. This had malicious intent behind it. There were some racist things involved and it's just unacceptable."

According to the City of Laurel's Facebook page, the images were so graphic that they were choosing to not release them to the public. Clifton said he feels sorry for any parent who had to witness it.

Laurel FB post

"I couldn't imagine being a parent and having a child come in, 'Mom, there's stuff written all over the wall,'" Clifton said. "It's just ridiculous."

The vandalism has been covered now, but the city estimates the cost of repairing the damages to be nearly $2,000. They are also offering a reward for any information regarding a potential suspect.

"This just takes away from parks and all of the other stuff that needs to get done," Clifton said. "It's unnecessary."



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