Vandals damage Berkeley Prep

By TIMES STAFF WRITER
Published August 31, 2006

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TOWN 'N COUNTRY - Vandals broke into Berkeley Preparatory School over the weekend, spray-painting walls, garbage cans, tables, signs and sidewalks, causing an estimated $1,500 in damage, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

The vandals also spray-painted goal posts, a stadium sign and a bronze statue of a teacher and student at the school at 4811 Kelly Road, deputies said.

The vandals wrote the letters "TP" and derogatory comments about the school in red, white, blue, black, tan and yellow paint.

No one has been arrested in the incident, but school officials say they are reviewing security tapes from school cameras.

The damage was reported about 8 a.m. Sunday by a school security guard, said sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter.

That security guard no longer works for the school, said school spokeswoman Heather Mackin.

It took several people all day Sunday to clean up the mess, she said. Nearly all the graffiti was cleaned up by Monday, the first day of school for students.