Orange Park Kindergarten temporarily closes after vandalism

ORANGE PARK, Fla. — Employees at Orange Park Kindergarten walked into class Thursday morning to find their building vandalized.

“Someone had broken in through the gate lock, broke in the back door,” office manager Sherilyn Mullins said. “There was paint everywhere. There was a lockbox that keeps our cash. They ripped it off the wall, broken into.”

Action News Jax saw paint slung on the walls and floors, trash and a security camera ripped from the ceiling. Employees shut down the day care for the day while they cleaned and made repairs.

“They wrote a not-nice message on one of our teacher’s boards, too. It’s words I can’t repeat right now,” Mullins said.

Action News Jax reached out to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office to learn if deputies are searching for the vandal. Mullins said they have replaced the locks and are working to increase security for their building.

“Just starting out the new year, this is ridiculous that someone would come into a preschool and try and destroy it,” Mullins said.

Anyone with information can contact the Sheriff’s Office at its nonemergency number, 904-264-6512.

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