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Suspected vandals lit up Chamolinian Utt
A drooping roof is all that remains over a pavilion’s largely exposed and darkly charred frame at the Chamolinian Cultural Village in Garapan, as suspected vandals lit it on fire Labor Day morning, according to Carolinian Affairs Office director Joe Limes.
“They burned it,” he said.
A hut was lit on fire by suspected vandals last Sunday at the Chamolinian Cultural Village in Garapan. (Dennis B. Chan)
He said he has not has been notified of any leads in the incident, adding that the Chamolinian Utt was only about 1 month old.
“I’m still waiting for the police,” he said.
According to Limes, it is not the first time vandals have cause grief in the area.
“Last month, they put water in the forklift. They opened the gas tank and put water inside,” he said.
The prank, he said, forced a staff member to overhaul the forklift’s tank.
“[The staff member] was really upset,” he said.
Then two nights ago, Limes said, vandals hit again, this time burning the demonstrator and artist’s hut in the cultural village.
“I don’t know what’s their problem. If they have anything they don’t agree [with] or they dislike what we are doing here for our culture, please come by and share [it] with us.”
He asked the community for their help, saying, “This is our village, our cultural village that we would like to promote our cultures.”
According to Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality enforcement officer Benjamin Norita, the huts currently under construction in the area were permitted by his department. He said they were expected to be all completed in October.
“Someone that’s smart enough did this when the police we’re not around here,” he said of the fact that it was done on Labor Day.
He expressed disappointment over the incident and said that if such acts were the case, he’d think someone would need to oversee the area at night.
“I don’t want to put DPS on the spotlight but this is a ridiculous act,” he said.
