Vandals Hit Vienna Elementary School, Other Town Properties

UPDATE: Map of more than a dozen locations hit by vandals

Like she does every day, Vienna Elementary School custodian Angela Bedoya arrived to open the building Wednesday long before students and teachers came to start the school day.

But the scene she found was unlike anything the school has seen before.

Vulgar phrases and images were scrawled across windows, doors,  and playground signs in blue and black ink, reaching across the pillars that anchor the front of the building and around the corner towards the Patrick Henry Public Library.

It continues around the side of the cafeteria, the back library windows, the SACC doors and the playground, school media specialist Terry Love told Patch.

It then moves onto the bridge spanning the small creek connecting the school grounds to the W&OD Trail.

The school is one of several properties in Vienna apparently targeted by vandals overnight, Vienna Police spokesman Officer Gary Lose said, though details about other incidents were not readily available Wednesday morning.

Residents who emailed Patch on Wednesday said other affected areas include the W&OD Trail and a few local businesses, along with the American Legion flag collection box.

Fairfax County police were taking the lead at VES, since it's a county school, Lose said.

Love said FCPS crews were onhand removing some of the graffiti from the school Wednesday.

"Destruction is a form of creation," says one message written on the pillar next to door four, suspended above an image of a face with a gas mask.

"It's not worth it," reads another on the glass of entry doors.

The playground sign has a litany of obscene words, and vulgar images are plastered around the property.

It's not clear if any property is permanently damaged, or how long the graffiti will take to remove.

Patch will update this story as more information becomes available.

Were you affected by the graffiti? Tell us in the comments.