Over the past year, there has been a big effort to fix up the streets of one community in Lackawanna County. Saturday night, vandals made their mark on the borough of Jermyn, ripping apart months of hard work.
Neighbors on one street in Jermyn gathered in disgust, standing next to one of many toppled trees. More than 100 trees were planted recently on the streets of the community, but someone went around snapping some of them.
"When I saw it, I just started crying. It's heartbreaking. It's heartbreaking that they would do something like this," said Katie Hosie.
Jermyn put a lot of time and money into fixing up the streets.
"I'm thinking, 'What is wrong with people?' You know, you make your town beautiful. You want it to look nice. People care about their properties. They keep them up nice and then you see the destruction. It's a shame," said Mary Anne Bennett.
"Someone who just does not like the betterment of the town has tried to desecrate it and ruin a lot of things," said Nick Mattise with the Shade Tree Commission.
Police said vandals targeted more than just trees. There were broken benches, ripped bunting, even a flag snapped at a World War I memorial. Some cars were also hit. In all, damage is estimated at thousands of dollars.
"We put so much time and effort into making the borough a beautiful place for people and then you see vandalism like this. It drives you crazy," said Mayor Bruce Smallacomb.
"I don't know if it was children or adults but they need to be taught to take care of things," added Bennett.
A reward is being offered for any information that leads to an arrest and conviction of those responsible for the vandalism.
Anyone with information is asked to call Jermyn police at (570) 876-1330.
Neighbors on one street in Jermyn gathered in disgust, standing next to one of many toppled trees. More than 100 trees were planted recently on the streets of the community, but someone went around snapping some of them.
"When I saw it, I just started crying. It's heartbreaking. It's heartbreaking that they would do something like this," said Katie Hosie.
Jermyn put a lot of time and money into fixing up the streets.
"I'm thinking, 'What is wrong with people?' You know, you make your town beautiful. You want it to look nice. People care about their properties. They keep them up nice and then you see the destruction. It's a shame," said Mary Anne Bennett.
"Someone who just does not like the betterment of the town has tried to desecrate it and ruin a lot of things," said Nick Mattise with the Shade Tree Commission.
Police said vandals targeted more than just trees. There were broken benches, ripped bunting, even a flag snapped at a World War I memorial. Some cars were also hit. In all, damage is estimated at thousands of dollars.
"We put so much time and effort into making the borough a beautiful place for people and then you see vandalism like this. It drives you crazy," said Mayor Bruce Smallacomb.
"I don't know if it was children or adults but they need to be taught to take care of things," added Bennett.
A reward is being offered for any information that leads to an arrest and conviction of those responsible for the vandalism.
Anyone with information is asked to call Jermyn police at (570) 876-1330.
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