Vandalism Strikes Memorial Playground of Sandy Hook Victim Ana Grace Marquez-Greene

A Sandy Hook playground fell victim to vandalism in the overnight hours between Saturday and Sunday and police are now investigating. According to NBC News, the playground was built as a memorial site for Sandy Hook student Ana Grace Marquez-Greene who was killed in the 2012 school massacre. The playground was built as part of the “Sandy Ground Project” which has plans to build one playground for each of the 26 lives lost on that tragic day.

Ana Grace’s playground was purple (her favorite color) and “was covered in her artwork.” The playground was opened to the public on April 4 — the ribbon cutting ceremony was held on what would have been Ana Grace’s birthday. The playground was the 18th built as part of the project.

The Sandy Hook playground vandalism was considered minor but police were still notified when park-goers noticed the out-of-place writing. In the photo above, you can see the graffiti sprayed on the corner of the memorial sign. Some believe that the graffiti wasn’t actually meant to be derogatory but was someone’s way of memorializing Ana Grace — but the way in which it was done was not appropriate.

According to WFSB:

“Letters that look like ‘B-E-K-S,’ a peace sign, the number two and the words ‘Sandy Hook’ were spray-painted across a sign at the playground.”

The graffiti was cleaned up late Sunday night by someone “close to the family” according to the report. Parents that were at the park on Sunday were saddened to see the property had been defaced. It has become a special place where Ana Grace’s memory is always alive.

Witness Charlotte Mansfield said:

“Hopefully they can find something out because it shouldn’t happen to playgrounds where kids are playing, especially if it’s in memory of someone. You need things like that in the community, so for them to do that is kind of sad.”

The Sandy Hook playground vandalism isn’t the only piece of Sandy Hook news making headlines this week. On May 2, Inquisitr.com reported that police arrested a teen in Minnesota who had plans to kill his family and “emulate the Sandy Hook school shootings.” The teen reportedly collected “a disturbing amount of firearms and ammunition” and materials to make bombs but his plan was foiled after a resident in the area became suspicious of his activity at a nearby self-storage facility. The resident tipped off police and the teen was taken into custody.

[Photo courtesy @LTFoley / Twitter]