VIGILANCE IS THE KEY WHEN ACTS OF VANDALISM OCCUR

Just days after vandals trashed the building that once housed Notre Dame High School, Cape Girardeau police nabbed two suspects, thanks in large part to a tip to Southeast Missouri Crimestoppers.

Sometime over the weekend of June 3-4, vandals rammed their vehicle into a set of doors at the former school, now known as the De Paul Center. The perpetrators also broke at least a dozen windows, damaged some interior doors and smashed a glass trophy case. The cost of the rampage is estimated at several thousand dollars.

At least two other noticeable instances of vandalism occurred in the city around the same time as the destruction at old Notre Dame, though police don't believe the incidents are related.

Over the course of several days last week and from all around town, more than 30 vehicle windows were reported shot out with a BB gun or pellet gun. And on June 5, two swastikas were noticed spray painted over the likeness of Rush Limbaugh on the Missouri Wall of Fame mural on the downtown floodwall. In addition to showing their contempt for public property, the vandals in the latter incident also displayed their stupidity, incorrectly drawing the symbols.

So far, there are no suspects either case. The problem police face in catching vandals is that such crimes are generally random and senseless acts committed on a whim. Unless eyewitnesses catch the lawbreakers in the act, its hard for police to trace such crimes back to those responsible.

Community vigilance is vital to ensuring that vandals can be arrested and punished. Because of the call to Crimestoppers, police have arrested two Cape Girardeau-area teen-agers for the damage done at old Notre Dame. The two are charged with felony property damage and face up to five years in prison if convicted.

Without the information provided by the caller to Crimestoppers, the police in this case might never have been led to their two suspects. Without help from the community, the senseless vandals responsible for the other recent incidents -- and acts yet to be committed -- may never be found.