WINTER HARBOR – The Navy is gone, but some of the recent users of the housing units the military left behind are not renovators or new inhabitants.

They are vandals who so far have caused $5,000 to $10,000 in damage, according to local officials.

Winter Harbor Police Chief Warren Ahrens said last week that he has an idea who has kicked into at least 15 duplex units in the Ocean Heights development. The vandals have set off fire extinguishers in the duplexes, spray-painted slogans and damaged cabinets, officials said.

“It’s a mess down there,” Ahrens said Friday. He said he believes a group of juveniles who have vandalized the local grammar school also have damaged the empty housing units, which are still owned by the Navy.

“They lit garbage cans on fire one night” at the school, Ahrens said. “They could have burnt the school down.”

Vandals also spray-painted townhouse units in Misty Harbor. Roger Barto, Winter Harbor town manager, said last week that some village residents have heard “screaming and hollering” at night in the Misty Harbor development behind the local grocery store.

Most of the damage occurred last weekend, Barto said.

“Apparently, … they really went to town,” Barto said. “These kids are getting more brazen all the time.”

Barto said that each damaged door casing probably would cost several hundred dollars to replace. The departed owner, however, has done nothing to repair the damage, he said.

“The Navy doesn’t have the money to fix it,” Barto said. “They’re going to have to do something to protect their interests.”

Lt. Sean Gallagher, the ranking Navy officer who was still at the Schoodic Point base last week, said Friday that the Navy has no comment on the damage.

“That’s an internal matter for the Navy to discuss with the town,” Gallagher said. He said he was leaving the base for the last time that afternoon and would forward media inquiries about the damage to higher-ranking Navy officials elsewhere.

Town officials hope to have the housing units converted for civilian use and generating local property taxes by next spring, according to Barto. In all, there are 80 vacated Navy housing units in the Winter Harbor village, including 20 single-family homes in the Harbor View development. Barto said there is no known damage to the units in Harbor View.

Ahrens said he has received temporary approval from elected town officials for extra patrols from his officers, all of whom work part time. He said he expects charges to be filed soon, at least for damage done to the school.

Anyone who may have information about the vandalism is urged to contact Ahrens or Barto at the town office.