BOSTON (WHDH) — A tennis club preparing to host a week of summer activities for neighborhood kids was destroyed by vandals over the weekend.
Sportmen’s Tennis Center on Blue Hill Avenue in Boston’s Dorchester section said someone destroyed furniture, poured paint on several tennis courts and spray-painted hurtful messages on the property.
“I just don’ think it was right. They just came into our property and started vandalizing the courts,” camper Jhiana Barnes told 7News.
More than 100 campers were forced to gather indoors Tuesday because of the destruction.
Vandals hopped a fence, destroyed a grill, broke into a storage shed, and then went on a destructive free-for-all, according to the center’s executive director.
Toni Wiley said cans of paint were found dumped all over the grounds and courts. The cleanup will cost the center about $14,000.
Police are investigating, but the area is not equipped with security cameras.
“Like any other non-profit, any dollar that we spend on that type of expense is a dollar that we can’t put towards scholarships or field trips,” Wiley said.
The center had planned to hold a family cookout and tennis tournament this week, but the activities have since been cancelled.
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