By Dan Nienaber
MANKATO — Police are hoping to use surveillance video to track the people responsible for graffiti and other damage at West High School early Sunday morning.
Several messages, including some that made sense and others that didn’t, were painted on the outside walls of the high school with black paint. The vandalism was reported by a school employee at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday, but police suspect the damage was done sometime between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m.
One message said “(Expletive) the Real World.” It’s not clear whether another message, “East #1” was heartfelt or meant to throw investigators off the track of who was really responsible for the work.
Another note, “Nun shall pass,” was painted directly under a surveillance camera. The camera records activity in the area outside the portion of the school that faces the football field.
A random series of the number 8 and letters were painted on the wall facing the field.
Painting wasn’t the only damage done. The vandals also painted and bent a keyless entry device outside one of the school’s entryways.
An empty beer keg also was found near the huge rock perched on a bank between the school and the Red Jacket Trail. Someone had attempted to cement the keg to the top of the rock, but the cement didn’t hold.
“They hadn’t cleared the snow off, that was the problem,” said Cmdr. Deb McDermott of the Mankato Department of Public Safety.
