Vandals targeted several offices on Mary Graydon Center's third and fourth floors, as well as the Office of Special Events in Butler Pavilion Sunday night, according to Public Safety Chief Michael McNair.
The perpetrators apparently used fire extinguishers and expelled the fluid through the cracks below several office doors, covering each room, according to Danna Walker, a professor in the School of Communication and The Eagle's faculty consultant. Walker's office on the fourth floor of MGC was one of the places vandalized Sunday.
On the night of the incident, Public Safety patrolled the area at least five times and did not see anything out of the ordinary, McNair said.
SOC professor Gemma Puglisi said there was nothing particularly suspicious when she left her office Sunday night. The following day, however, there was a sign on the office door telling faculty to not enter due to an impending cleanup, she said.
"There was one car in the parking lot next to mine when I left," Puglisi said.
She did notice someone smoking in the bathroom but did not think much of it, Puglisi said.
Cleanup crews came to the offices Monday morning to clean the mess the extinguisher fluid made in the offices, according to Special Events Co-Director Lisa Arakaki.
Facilities Management brought outside contractors to her office to clean the mess, she said.
"It's not really damage," Arakaki said. "It's more of a nuisance."
The vandals did not seem to be targeting any particular offices, according to McNair. The incidents each took place in isolated areas of MGC and the Butler Pavilion.
This is not the first time vandalism like this has happened - in fact, it has happened four times in the last six months, McNair said.
Public Safety is investigating the vandalism and will attempt to prevent similar acts in the future by installing cameras in places that are accessible 24 hours a day, such as MGC and Butler, he said.
Installing cameras should not take very long. Meanwhile, more officers will be watching these areas, McNair said.
This was the second time someone vandalized the Office of Special Events in this fashion, Arakaki said. Two years ago, some individuals sprayed extinguisher fluid through a mail slot on the office's door, she said.
These incidents are very expensive for both the university and for students, McNair said.
"It's the kind of stuff that we don't need to spend money on," he said.
Such vandalism is disheartening to faculty members, Walker said.
"Of course we're all upset about it," she said. "It's disruptive. It doesn't accomplish anything. We wonder why someone would do such a thing."
Arakaki said she was frustrated by the incident.
"It makes me mad that people think that something like this is funny, but it's not," she said.
