The black gorilla shown did not fall victim to illegal poachers in the jungles of Africa, instead it became the victim of vandalism.

Typically this gorilla stands guard as the mascot in front of Gorilla Plus Tools, in south Chickasha, yet, late one night, someone spray painted an eye patch, and several vulgar tags on the beast.

This is just one of the many cases of vandalism that has occurred so far this year. Last year by this date there were 135 reported cases (a large number of vandalisms go unreported, as the gorilla is an example were the business owner decided to take care of the damage themselves). So far to date in 2008, there have been 161.

This results in a 37% increase over last year’s numbers for vandalism in city limits.

“Paint balling, egging, and spray painting are the three most common forms of vandalism our officers see,” said Chickasha Police Chief, Lynn Williams as he analyzed the reports from the police database.

The fact that one gets vandalized in the first place, is typically bad enough, but another issue that plagues vandalism is the small percentage that the vandal will be caught.

“Unless you catch them in the act its just hard to stop them. I mean, it’s really hard for a business owner to safeguard the back, outside, wall of their business that faces an ally, at 3:00 in the morning. One of the things we have done to help combat this issue is the increased patrols in certain areas where there is more activity, as one can see on this map that pinpoints each report of vandalism since January 2008,” said Williams.

The biggest piece of advice the Chief had to give the citizens that live in town, to help prevent and catch a vandal, is to “keep an eye out in your neighborhoods, and when you see something or someone out of place or that gives you an uneasy feeling give the police a call, that is what we’re here for. I would much rather have an officer check out the situation and find nothing, then someone see something and not call.”

The same advice applies to the rural areas as well; only call your local sheriff’s office.

“Grady County Crime Stoppers is another avenue one has to report something, any crime for that matter,” added Williams.