Vandalism in Pocatello

Vandalism is an issue in many cities around the country. Graffiti, broken windows and even shoes on power lines are among the most common cases, but in recent years Pocatello has seen some more interesting examples.

In Old Town, by the pavilion, a group of unrelated vandalism incidents have occurred over the past several years. Brand new porta potties had to be put in the Union Pacific parking lot as a result of somebody burning down the old ones. The blue plastic remanence sits stuck to the asphalt. Less than 100 yards away, there are some pieces of artwork on the pavilion, which have been driven into a few times.

And although these events occurred on the same block, Mayor Brian Blad doesn’t believe there is any kind of correlation.

“I kinda feel like it is a strange occurrence,” Blad said. “You know the porta potties were a victim of opportunity…somebody had a great idea to burn down, let’s see what it looks like and where the vehicles were, the art was run over was a long time ago and I’m gonna go with it’s just circumstance.”

Vandalism isn’t the city’s biggest concern, nor should it be, still Mayor Blad recommends that people think before they take action.

“I would just encourage people to be careful, and pay attention and think before you act, you know it might sound like a good idea right now but tomorrow morning you might realize it wasn’t that great of an idea.” Blad added, “if you get caught doing it, you’ll know immediately that it wasn’t such a good idea.”

In addition to being illegal and wrong…”it’s expensive to people, it makes a mess. It’s expensive to replace…so i would just ask people to just to be careful and don’t vandalize. Just don’t do it.”

Authorities have still not identified the party involved with the porta potty incident.