Protest Signs Vandalized on Rushley Road

Neighbors in Cromwood-Coventry woke up to a nasty surprise Wednesday morning when they found that two signs protesting a proposed development on Rushley Road had been defaced with spray paint.

One of the signs near the intersection of Littlewood and Rushley Roads, which previously said, "Save Our Trees ... Stop Craftsmen," had the word "Merry" spelled out in gold spraypaint. The other sign, which simply had "Craftsmen" crossed out with the red circle and line symbol for "no", was sprayed with gold paint but no words were legible.

Craftsmen, Inc. is the developer planning to build more than 30 single-family homes on 14 acres of land near the end of Rushley Road. The development has has been controversial and neighbors have protested the project since they first learned that Craftsmen was planning to build in their neighborhood.

This isn't the first time that signs near the proposed development have been defaced or destroyed. Cromwood-Coventry Community Association treasurer Ann Collier told Patch that this latest incident was the most recent in a spate of vandalism beginning on Nov. 18.

On Nov. 18, one sign was found missing Then on Nov. 23, someone pulled up several signs and broke posts they were attached to, Collier said. Earlier this month, the signs were pulled up and their posts were broken again. And on Dec. 12, all of the protest signs were stolen, according to Collier.

"The police said that this was malicious intent," Collier said. "Someone brought a vehicle and loaded the signs into it."

The most recent incident occurred between 11:30 p.m. Dec. 20 and the early morning hours of Dec. 21, according to Lt. Paul Franzoni, a police spokesman. In addition to the vandalism of signs, a security camera to catch the vandals was also stolen. The camera was about 20 feet off the ground in a tree.

"We've increased our patrols in that area," Franzoni said. He added that the vandalism occurring in the neighborhood had been assigned to a community outreach officer who would be working on solutions to the problem.

Councilman David Marks, who represents the Cromwood-Coventry area, was unhappy to learn of the vandalism.

"Incidents of vandalism are always unfortunate, and this is a very contentious development," Marks said. "[The community] has the right to protest."

Marks added that it was his office that requested increased police patrols in the area.