Graffiti found on new marquee, parts of school
BY MICHAEL ACKER
Staff Writer

Graffiti covers a brand-new marquee in front of the Alan B. Shepard Elementary School in Old Bridge. The vandalism, also found on a storage bin and on the school itself, occurred last Thursday night or Friday morning.

OLD BRIDGE - Township police are investigating whether acts of vandalism that defaced parts of the Alan B. Shepard Elementary School last week are gang related.

Graffiti was found in various areas of the Bushnell Road school by a police officer on routine patrol at 7:17 a.m. Friday. The front marquee sign was covered in black spray-painted writing, along with windows, a storage container and roadway areas.

The vandalism was more upsetting because of the fact that the school PTA had just purchased the marquee sign and put it up in June.

Lori Luicci, spokeswoman for the Board of Education, confirmed that the PTA purchased the sign for $4,000. The cost of repairing the sign is not yet known.

The graffiti included gang references and initials, and the word "Eastwick" is written in large, dark letters on the storage bin.

Old Bridge Police Lt. Robert Weiss noted that this is an open case and that the investigation has not yet determined that the markings are gang related.

"We are working on it to the best of our ability," Weiss said. "We have seen an increase in graffiti and other activities that may be gang related in Old Bridge."

Weiss said that police are working toward removing this element from the community, adding that police have increased patrol presence around the school building.

"This is a good community," Weiss said. "We do not want this kind of activity here."

Parents reported that graffiti also turned up last year at the Shepard school when the playground was vandalized.

The incident comes a month after graffiti was spray-painted on the exterior walls of Old Bridge High School. Police charged three Old Bridge teenagers in that case. Two of those charged were graduating from the high school the day the graffiti was discovered.