Pelham police identify vandals who destroyed fence

PELHAM — Police say tips and Facebook pictures helped them identify and catch the vandals who damaged a fence built at Raymond Park for an Eagle Scout project.

Several juveniles, ages 15 to 17, were responsible. They will pay for new materials and rebuild the fence as well as clean up other vandalism in the park, police said.

The agreement was reached among police, the town parks department and the parents of the juveniles.

Police did not release their identities.

Eagle Scout Tom Lynch, 17, made a public appeal for help in finding the vandals less than two weeks ago.

They had pulled down the fence he built and for which he collected more than $600 in contributions from the community.

“I’m very pleased about that,” Lynch said yesterday. “I think it’s very good work the police are doing.”

Lynch is a senior at Pelham High School and a member of Boy Scout Troop 25.

“My interest was never to put anyone in jail,” he said. “I don’t think they will damage something they build themselves. I think they will learn a great lesson from that.”

Lynch said the parks department is overseeing the repair job. The work is to be done this fall, he said.

“I’ll be there when they rebuild it,” Lynch said.

He doesn’t know whether he will get an apology.

“I guess. But I don’t want to force anybody to apologize,” Lynch said. “If they take it on themselves, it will mean more.”

The new cedar fence, more than 200 feet long, was knocked down last month.

“All of the juveniles involved were interviewed with their parents at the Pelham police station,” police said in statement announcing the case had been solved. “Detectives were able to identify the individuals who had first destroyed the fence and also were able to identify who was involved in burning the fence after it had been damaged, as each crime took place on different dates.”

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