LUFKIN, Texas (KETK) — The city of Lufkin has seen several incidents of vandalized park property over the past few months.

Over the weekend, a slide was damaged at Grace Dunn Richardson Park in Lufkin. That slide will be sectioned off temporarily until it is replaced.

“We have had issues within our parks throughout the city, not one specifically, where it does appear that someone has been vandalizing our slides intentionally,” said Jessica Pebsworth, the Communications Director for the City of Lufkin.

Pebsworth shared that a handful of parks have been damaged over the last several months. 

“Basically, cracking them with a hammer of some sort, which is very frustrating,” said Pebsworth.

The repairs are costly and take time. 

“So, as someone who lives here in this community that has a young child, of course it’s always disappointing when our parks or our park equipment has to be shut down, especially whenever it’s a family’s favorite park that they frequent,” said Pebsworth.

The broken slide at Grace Dunn Richardson Park could cost more than $10,000 to replace.

“This is an active investigation, we just ask anyone with information to please report it to the Lufkin Police Department or help be our eyes and ears,” said Pebsworth.

For now, the slide will be closed off until a new one arrives. 

“Impacts their ability to run around and play and be kids, and it’s just sad that they take that away from the children of our community,” said Pebsworth.

According to Pebsworth, once a person, or people, is caught they could face criminal mischief charges. Fines and punishment are based on the amount of damage they cause.