PITTSFIELD – Sometime early Tuesday, one or more vandals dumped paint on vehicles, stole chain saws and baseballs, and broke out a rear window of the maintenance building at Manson Park.

It was the second of two serious vandalism sprees in the park since May, although park superintendent Jack Wright said damage is almost a daily occurrence at the 40-acre park, which was donated to the town in 1941.

When Wright drove up to the building just before 8 a.m. Tuesday, he immediately spotted white paint on one of the windows. “Then I realized the paint was splattered on the inside, and I knew this was not going to be good,” he said.

Circling the building, Wright quickly spotted a broken out back window where the protective mesh had been peeled up to provide entry for the vandals.

Once he opened the front door, however, the full impact of what had happened shocked him. Twenty gallons of white paint had been thrown on vehicles, mowers, equipment and an air compressor. A 1991 dump truck had five gallons of paint poured and splashed around inside. The paint had shorted out the truck’s electric system so the radio was playing without the truck being turned on.

“When I got here, paint was still dripping from the bottom of the driver’s-side door,” Wright said.

Paint was literally everywhere, including on an athletic scoreboard, a Toro utility vehicle and on athletic equipment, including first base.

Outside, a pair of white handprints against the building’s rear wall indicated someone had jumped back out the window. A trail of paint led along the grass to the side of the structure where it disappeared. A pair of paint-splattered binoculars and a screwdriver had been dropped on the grass.

Two new chain saws were missing – a Stihl and a Husqvarna – along with a case of baseballs and a gas can. Also missing were about 550 empty water bottles, which Wright said he saves for gas money for his annual fishing trip.

“This is so malicious,” Paul Bertrand of the Manson Park Committee said when he saw the damage. The park is insured, he said.

Last May, Wright came to work on a Monday and found that during the weekend, a $4,000 batting cage had been knocked down, a garage door was kicked in, rubbish barrels were tossed into the Sebasticook River, trash was thrown around, and one of the barrels was used for an impromptu bonfire.

Wright said the vandalism continues, despite increased police patrols and the watchful eyes of residents in a dozen homes that border one side of the park.

Wright said he has replaced the lock on one building six times. Three seriously damaged bicycles were recovered from the park Tuesday morning, one that was reported stolen from a Bates Street home.

Swings have been stolen, tennis nets ripped down, lights smashed and lawns ripped up by four-wheelers and other vehicles. Damage to the park’s restrooms has happened even while Wright has been mowing in the park.

Vandalism has always been a problem at the park, but Wright said that in recent years the damage has shifted from simple pranks and mischief to malicious and dangerous activity. Despite keeping the lights on in the park and banning all vehicles after sunset, the damage continues.

Sgt. Timothy Roussin is investigating the thefts and vandalism. Anyone with information should call the Pittsfield Police Department at 487-3101.