DEPEW, N.Y. — The Depew mayor is asking parents to talk with their kids about respect after several young kids were caught vandalizing a park.
Fireman's Park in Depew has been hit by vandals several times recently. The latest round include kids who left tire marks on the basketball courts that were just resurfaced.
"They were on the two-wheel, like the razor type, some a little bit bigger with the darker rubber tires," said Depew Mayor Kevin Peterson.
On Tuesday, Depew Mayor Kevin Peterson decided to post a message to the community on Facebook about respect, or the lack of it, displayed by kids he says are likely in elementary school at Fireman's Park. When he saw a mess in the bathroom, he confronted them.
"Water on the floor, and the one kid that I took a chance that that might have been, they coughed it up right away and said it was them and they were, I said what were you doing throwing bottles of water?" said Mayor Kevin Peterson.
The fresh mulch at the firefighters' memorial was also disturbed and a flag holder was broken.
Jan Kostran is a 25-year member of Depew Hook and Ladder. He's lived in Depew for more than forty years.
"It's a shame that parents aren't more responsible knowing where their kids are, what they're doing, and who they're hanging around with. And this is not a Depew problem, it's a community problem everywhere. Parents need to be a little bit more responsible so we can enjoy this, so everyone can enjoy this," said firefighter Jan Kostran.
With $2.2-million in improvements already made at the park and more on the way, the Mayor hopes there isn't any more vandalism.
"I raised my voice a little bit, but, you know, if the parents were here, I mean, they just have to accept the fact that, yeah, your kids didn't do the right thing. You know, we all like to think our kids do the right thing and how could that be, they may not know it and maybe they would do something if they knew about it, but it just has to have more respect for this park," said Mayor Peterson.
So the mayor says it's really just about having a conversation with your kids so that the park is here for generations to come.