Vandals and thieves ransacked the Sports, Parks and Recreation Department’s main office at LBJ Gardens last Thursday and stole two maintenance pickup trucks. Then on Monday the department discovered its maintenance warehouse near LBJ Gardens was broken into, Commissioner St. Claire Williams said in a statement

The Department of Sports, Parks and Recreation has been experiencing too much vandalism at its parks and recreation facilities, he said. "This recent incident is a major blow to the operations," Williams said, asking anyone who knows anything about who did this to please report it to the police.

For the last eight years, at least, department officials have testified to the Legislature during budget hearings that constant vandalism of its facilities continues to be its single greatest problem, with a disproportionate amount of limited money spent to replace sinks, toilets, plumbing, wiring and lighting shortly after it is installed. (See Related Links below)