A recent increase in vandalism at Warrenton city parks has led Police Chief Greg Houdyshell to ask residents to help his officers by reporting any suspicious activity. He said his department specifically has noticed an increase in vandalism at park restrooms, tied in with the recent opening of the parks upon the arrival of spring. "It's been consistent," Houdyshell said. While all of the city parks have seen some type of vandalism over the past couple of years, Houdyshell said Lakeview Park has been the hardest hit. He noted that officers recently found that vandals had flooded the restrooms by stuffing paper towels into the sinks and spray painted the walls. Since Lakeview Park has several houses nearby, Houdyshell said he has talked to the park's neighbors about keeping an eye on the park as well. The park is located on Lakeview Street. While the police department has seen a decrease in the amount of damage to the city parks in the past 18 months thanks to increased daily patrols, according to Houdyshell, that hasn't completely deterred vandals. He believes the suspects are school-age children. Most of the incidents there have occurred around the time after school has been dismissed for the day. "Our officers are trying to get around to the park at that time," Houdyshell said. All of the park's restroom facilities are open during the day, but are locked by police officers at dusk. The city has discussed the possibility of installing surveillance cameras, but the option has been ruled out up to this point because of the cost. "A citizen's description of a suspect or the vehicle they are in may be the crucial lead needed for officers to identify who is responsible for the vandalism," Houdyshell said. This isn't the first time the police department and the city have been trying to combat the park vandalism. In August, aldermen voted unanimously to keep the restrooms closed at the parks when youth baseball or softball practices are held. That decision was made after Recreation Director Patrick Randolph caught four boys ranging in age from 6 to 8 years old stuffing toilet paper down toilets at Khoury Park. Other incidents that also were reported last year included having towel dispensers torn off walls and freeing the boat ramp at Spector Lake. At the time, city officials were "ashamed" and "discouraged" by the continued vandalism on a near weekly occurrence. A year earlier, two juveniles, a 9- and 10-year-old boy, were taken into custody for starting a fire in the restroom at the city pool in the middle of the afternoon. "We're going to keep trying new things until we find a solution that works," Houdyshell said.