KU police investigate string of vandalism incidents in campus buildings

Campus police are investigating a string of vandalism incidents reported this month at Kansas University.

Reports of damage in campus buildings began July 12, when vandals caused about $5,000 damage to bathroom stalls in a men’s room at Wescoe Hall and benches on the building’s ground floor.

Several incidents followed in other campus buildings, including in Blake Hall, Fraser Hall, Malott Hall and Stauffer-Flint Hall, where restrooms, classroom chairs, hallway benches, tables and windows were damaged, according to a KU Public Safety Office report.

All of the buildings were unlocked at the time of the incidents because faculty and staff were working inside, said Capt. Schuyler Bailey, a KU Public Safety spokesman. The total cost of the vandalism, based on the damage estimates in police reports, exceeded $9,000.

It’s not clear whether all of the incidents are related, Bailey said. Police are looking for information about a possible suspect in one of the most recent incidents, a person seen leaving the area of Blake Hall on Friday night. The suspect was described as a black male, of heavy build, wearing a navy blue Cardinals shirt and carrying a light-colored backpack.

Campus police have asked anyone with information about these incidents to call Crime Stoppers, at 785-864-8888, or the KU Public Safety Office, at 785-864-5900.