Teens rip up Tennessee playground forcing city to pay thousands in repairs

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – A Tennessee playground was vandalized by a group of teens, and it was all caught on camera. The City of Parsons said they will have to spend thousands of dollars to fix it.

Friday was just another day for Tabitha Camper at her Parsons physical therapy practice, Camper Physical Therapy. But she and the community are holding out for answers as to what happened at the Parsons Regional Community Park down the street.

“Word spreads fast and hopefully it gets back around to the people that did this,” said Camper.

That’s where the surveillance video was shot a couple of weeks ago. It shows teens tearing and pulling up thousands of dollars worth of turf at the new playground.

“I was disappointed to see such an asset to our community be vandalized,” said Camper. “It’s a big part of our community especially in the springtime when we have baseball.”

“This is something we are very proud of,” said Lee Villaflor, Parsons’ City Administrator.

He posted the video to social media to try and identify who did this to a playground funded by grant money.

“We are not out to put anyone in jail over this,” said Villaflor. “We just want – we would like to talk to the people and just say ‘Look, this is something we are very proud of. One of these days you’ll have children, and they are going to be over here playing on this same surface.’”

The patch ripped up may seem small, but the city said it may not be possible to replace the section alone. Instead, they would have to replace the turf all around the playground which could cost around $25,000, which is a lot for a small city like Parsons.

“It’s more than likely going to be a complete overhaul,” said Villaflor.

For Camper, she hopes this is the end to the vandalism.

“I don’t know what the motive is behind that,” she said. “But they definitely need to be held accountable.”

The City of Parsons said if anyone knows anything they should call 731-847-6358.

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