The Western Pocono Community Library’s StoryWalk at the Chestnuthill Township Park has been destroyed by vandals. The incident happened overnight Thursday.

Library Director Patti Weiss is still at a loss as to why anyone would do something like this.

Ashley Burney, the library’s assistant who did all the work creating the story board, was heartbroken, according to Weiss.

“I don’t know how they managed to, but they either broke or pulled out 16 posts that were hammered into the ground. It couldn’t have been easy, because they were hammered in deep enough they would stay in during bad weather,” she said.

The StoryWalk provides an opportunity for children and families to read a book as they walk through the park. StoryWalks help promote literacy, outdoor activity and community involvement.

The West End Regional Park Association Director Bernie Kozen posted, “Sadly the StoryWalk laminated story pages were vandalized at Chestnuthill Park on Thursday.” He added, “This was greatly enjoyed by our patrons of the park, and went up at great expense by the Western Pocono Community Library as they partnered with West End Park and Open Space Commission to bring this family friendly medium to our park. It is devastating that it can be taken away after just a year over such a deliberate act.”

One thing Weiss thought was strange was four of the 16 posts were missing from the broken ones left behind.

Unfortunately, the destruction of the posts were not enough. “The pages of the book were torn out and ripped into pieces and scattered all over the walking trails,” Weiss said.

Although there are no cameras on the walking paths, Chestnut­hill Township does have cameras around the township building and property, according to township Manager David Albright.

“We don’t have cameras on the trail, but we did take a look at our cameras to see it there was anything on them that would show something. Unfortunately there was not anything on the camera, but we did report it to the state police,” he said.

Community reaches out

Weiss said there has been a tremendous response from the community. People contacted them on Facebook or called and volunteered to help.

“The plan is to get the story board up in September. The cost to replace the posts is probably $100, it is the labor where we need help,” Weiss said.

The recreation commission asked people who saw anything or would like to make amends to contact WPCL with any information at 570-992-7934 or WPCL6@ptd.net OR WEPOSC’s Executive Director Bernie Kozen or Program Coordinator Kim Tuin at 570-992-9733 or bkozen@weposc.org.

Weiss said, “I would love to have the person who did this to walk into our library and admit they did the damage, and then volunteer to help restore it.”