COVINGTON, Ky. — A vandal damaged disc golf baskets at Devou Park — again — on Friday night into Saturday morning, according to the City of Covington.
Covington Police Lt. Justin Bradbury said eight of the baskets' metal chains were removed.
"They had to use bolt cutters and roughly make 24 cuts per basket," said Ryan Freibert, the President of the Greater Cincinnati Disc Golf Association and architect of the course. "It's unbelievable the amount of time it had to have taken."
Bradbury said it caused $7,000 of damage.
This is the third time the baskets have been vandalized since they were installed last October.
“It’s hard to have any logical explanation for it, but it’s going to be a compelling story once we get to the bottom of it,” course architect Ryan Freibert told LINK nky. “Even though it’s not resolved, people continued to keep playing and enjoying disc golf.”
Freibert said fundraising efforts are continuing to fix the damage, which has totaled $20,000 over the course of the three incidents.
On Oct. 12, thieves stole 12 of the 18 total disc golf baskets overnight with another severely damaged. The disc golf course had been open for only three days before the incident.
Then three months later, in January, it happened again: An article posted on the Devou Good Foundation website said the majority of the disc golf baskets were “crushed, bent, or ripped out of the ground.” The Covington Police Department confirmed 14 of the 18 baskets were damaged beyond repair.
Police are investigating all three incidents and said those responsible could face felony criminal mischief charges and serve one to five years in prison.
Bradbury said the situation is unusual.
"This is actually a very quiet neighborhood where nothing really ever happens and so it is very unusual for something of this nature or this magnitude to happen in that area," he said.
Police are asking anyone who sees someone suspicious in the park to call dispatch, especially if it's after dark.
The City said it plans to ramp up security measures because of the recurrence of this vandalism to not just the disc golf course but to other features and areas of the park.
Our news partners at LINK nky contributed to this article.
Watch Live:
