DES MOINES, Iowa — There's a sticky — or rather, slippery — situation at a Des Moines park after vandals left their mark on some recent additions to the park's offerings.
The game of futsal is growing in popularity around the world: it is basically miniature soccer, with a smaller ball and playing field. Chesterfield Park in Des Moines opened a new court for community members to enjoy the game in spring 2023, but when park staff visited on Monday, they found that field a little more slick than they left it.
"We became aware when staff were here doing the daily checks, performing maintenance in the park when they discovered that oil had been dumped on the futsal court," said Mike Gaul, Parks Manager for Des Moines Parks and Recreation.
After getting that mess cleaned up, you might think that would be the end of the story. But when park staff came back the next morning, they were greeted by an unpleasant and unfortunately familiar sight.
Oil had been dumped onto the futsal court again, extending its closure as staff worked to clean up the slippery mess. Park officials filed a police report, hoping to find whoever left the mess behind.
"We cannot stress enough the importance of respecting our shared spaces and taking care of the facilities we are fortunate to have," Parks & Rec posted on Facebook. "By defacing our own community resources, we are only hurting ourselves."
"Vandalism like this is infrequent. To have it two days in a row is pretty, pretty disappointing. So it's not often that we run into situations like this," Gaul said.
And it's not just Des Moines parks that have been dealing with vandalism lately.
At Emma McCarth Lee Park in Ames, police believe that someone used fireworks to blow up a toilet earlier in June. Aside from closing facilities around the damage, Gaul says these incidents take resources away from important cleanup work at other local parks, as well.
"We have a dedicated group of men and women that take care of our parks and get them ready for the public, so seeing things like this is very disappointing and just adds difficulty to our job," he said.
After an additional degreasing session on Thursday, park officials say the court should be ready for futsal players again on Friday.