Syrup vandals damage books

TACOMA, Wash. -- Vandals have done nearly $10,000 worth of damage to books, videotapes and compact discs by pouring syrup into library drop boxes, officials said.

Police and Tacoma public library officials say five branches have been hit 21 times since October, and similar vandalism has been reported at three Pierce County library branches and a number of branches in nearby Seattle.

The latest incident in Tacoma was last week at the downtown branch. Some book drops have been closed indefinitely and all are being locked when libraries are closed on weekends.

"It makes me sick to know someone is doing all of this damage and wasting all of that money," Amanda Ruff said Thursday as she entered the downtown library. "I can't imagine why anyone would want to destroy books."

Police are following leads and encouraging residents to report suspicious activity, officer Jim Mattheis said.

"We're taking this very seriously," he said. "We're hoping within a short period of time we'll have an arrest."