Town of Petrolia officials are expressing disappointment and frustration after numerous acts of vandalism were recently reported at the historic Petrolia Discovery site.
According to Lambton OPP, the latest incident happened on Friday, November 22 when four unknown suspects gained access to the premises and caused an estimated $500 in damage.
Petrolia Discovery Chairperson Liz Welsh said it's the third time in about a month that they've had to deal with a planned and malicious attack.
"Our volunteers are tired," said Welsh. "We've had a long season and now they're spending their fall time, when they thought they'd have a bit of a break, boarding up windows and repairing things. Of course, it will cost us a bit of money. There were a few fire extinguishers that were discharged. It's taken a lot for us to get this site restored, and we'd like to be focusing our efforts on the restoration of the site and not cleaning up after vandalism. It's quite senseless actually. The weather was terrible on Friday night and no one wanted to be out. These people apparently decided they needed to come up with a sledgehammer and take out windows and do some damage."
Welsh said a few items were taken from some of the buildings.
"We think we've found most of them on the site, some are damaged," she said. "They don't have a monetary value, as such, but they do have a historic value for our site to showcase what we have here."
Welsh is hopeful repairs can be completed sooner rather than later.
"Volunteers started right away. We're hesitant to put new glass in because two of the windows that had already been replaced were broken again," she said.
Welsh said they're also looking into enhanced security measures to prevent future incidents, adding they're very concerned for the vintage equipment that operates on site.
Petrolia Mayor Brad Loosley echoed the concerns.
"I'm concerned about the negative impact that it has on the community and the history of the Town of Petrolia involved with the oil industry," said Loosley. "The volunteers spend hundreds of hours looking after the facility. In the last few years, it's really come back and that kind of vandalism is disappointing to all the residents of Petrolia who are preserving the heritage of the oil. You're able to see the working rigs that ran 100 years ago, and it's amazing when you look at the engineering that was done."
The OPP said video surveillance is being reviewed in an effort to identify those responsible.
Anyone with information is asked to contact OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
You can also submit an anonymous tip online at www.p3tips.com.