Groundskeeper Phil Tanner (second from right) contemplates the repairs he will have to make as school officials and police survey the damage vandals did to Tiger Stadium late last week. Washington Police are investigating an incident of vandalism last week in which an unknown person trenched the flawless turf of Tiger Field with a vehicle, digging ruts in the field for 20 yards.

WPD Patrolman Tashike Jennings responded to the call Thursday morning and met at the vandalized field with Wilkes County School Superintendent Joyce Williams, Principal Andrew Jackson, grounds maintenance man Phil Tanner, Coach Russell Morgan, and J.W. King of the Board of Education maintenance staff.

Sometime between 7 p.m. Wednesday and 10:30 a.m. Thursday, someone gained entrance through a usually locked gate on the southwest corner of the field and drove in a loop across one end of the field. The damaged turf was limited to the first 30 yards of the south end of the field.

Mrs. Williams said that Phil Tanner assured her that the field would be repaired by the first Tiger home game September 2.

“We’re lucky they didn’t just go all the way up and down the field,” Morgan said, adding that if it the damage had been over about one more foot, it would have knocked a sprinkler head off.

Fortunately, Tiger football games are out of town until September 2 when W-WCHS will host Hart County. That will give the field needed healing time it wouldn’t have had on last year’s schedule. “By the time we play it ought to be pretty solid,” Morgan continued. “I think we’ve got one of the prettiest fields around. Phil puts in many hours on it – he cuts it every day.”

Speculation on exactly when the field was damaged leans toward early Thursday morning, Mrs. Williams said, since Tanner’s first examination showed that the damage had been done after the early morning dew, and long after the soaking rain the night before.

The vehicle involved was first thought to be a large four-wheeler, she said, but later examination showed that it was probably a pickup. “That narrows it down some,” she said.

Anyone with information on who damaged the field can contact the Washington Police at 678-3244.