FORT SMITH, Ark. — An Eagle Scout project at a Fort Smith school is in shambles after an act of vandalism earlier this week.
Eagle Scout Evan Smith built an outdoor classroom at Ballman Elementary. To Smith, it was more than just a simple project.
"We kind of make an outdoor classroom that kids can get out of the school because, you know, being stuck inside the walls all day is not the best thing," Evan Smith said. "It's kind of boring after a while."
Smith and his scout advisor Preston Davis built the outdoor oasis as part of his progress toward becoming an Eagle Scout.
"When Evan brought this idea to me, I was like, 'This is probably the largest, most complex job that we've ever attempted,'" Davis said.
It took several days and a large sum of money to give the elementary a garden, trees, and a place to sit, relax, and learn.
Unfortunately, vandals struck the oasis in the early hours of Monday, July 22, leaving picnic tables toppled over and plants ruined.
"I kind of felt just disappointed and sad because what was the point of doing something for the community, doing something good, and turning around and have someone destroy it in a sense that they didn't really care for that?" Smith said.
Megan Harmon has two children enrolled at Ballman. Harmon and other PTA members maintain the project.
"It's where our kids go to be super social," Harmon said. "They get to go in there and put their hands in the dirt and affect something, and see these plants grow over time. And I think there's a lot of lessons in that. It's definitely more than an outdoor classroom or a garden."
Harmon said the latest vandalism is devastating and heartbreaking.
"A school should be a safe place for kiddos," she said. "Even though it's summer and children aren't there right now, this is their space, and they'll return soon, and we want to get it back to what it was before ... It was a pain in the gut to see what had happened to our space that we have worked so much and put so much time into."
Smith said it is now a matter of getting the garden rebuilt before school starts.
"We have someone checking today on the benches and the picnic tables, seeing how much we can salvage," he said. "From there, we'll go ahead and see about funds that we can possibly raise to fix some of the damaged property that we had."
Although it may take some time, Davis ensures it will be rebuilt.
"Ballman is a school my children went to in years past, and it's a family school to me too," Davis said. "I was very honored to be a part of this, and we'll rebuild it. It's going to happen. It'll just take us a little bit of time.
Police are following leads but no arrests have been made.
Thanks to donations made since Monday, most of what was damaged will be replaced.
Any donations people want to make can be made at Ballman Elementary School to its Outdoor Classroom Project
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