MIDDLEBORO, MASS. (WHDH) - An investigation is underway in Middleboro after someone dumped oil in a popular pond and homeowners left behind some disturbing vandalism.
Richard Oakley and Chelsea Hodnett live in the area and came outside Saturday morning to find the oil already seeping into the water.
“Someone had grabbed the Black Lives Matter sign and thrown it toward the pond and then they also — we assume it’s the same person. We don’t know — but, at the same time, someone also put a bag, a black plastic trashbag of used motor oil in the pond,” Richard explained.
The couple say the pond is teeming with wildlife and was the main selling point for them when they purchased the house 12 years ago.
Police say the container they discovered at the scene contained 10 to 15 gallons of oil.
“Had all of the oil in that bag had got out, this definitely would have been, at a minimum, destroyed. But, at worst, destroyed and thousands and thousands of dollars worth of clean up,” said Richard.
“What oil does is that when it spreads, it makes a surface where insects can’t get up to get air. So, when they die, there is nothing that is in there for the animals to eat.”
The oil can also seep into the soil and destroy vegetation.
DEP and emergency crews responded to the call quickly to try and mitigate the problem by placing special pads in the water to try and soak up that oil.
Oakley, Hodnett, and their neighbors are offering a reward for anyone with information leading to an arrest.
A sign supporting police sat next to the Black Lives Matter sign and that one was not touched.
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