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DOWAGIAC — The Dowagiac Elks Club has become the second area golf course to be vandalized in the past two months.

In early September, the Diamond Lake Golf Course in Cassopolis was vandalized by persons with a golf cart who damaged both a tee box and a green.

Last week at the Elks Club Golf Course, vandals broke into the chemical storage building and the grounds equipment building causing several thousands of dollars in damages.

Vandals used the course’s own equipment to help break into the buildings where the poured chemicals everywhere and spray-painted equipment. Clean up continues a week later at the course according to Dowagiac Elks Manager and Treasurer Ray Klomes.

According to Klomes, the clean-up of the hazardous materials took more than 12 hours.

“The police think it is either middle schoolers or young teenagers,” he said. “We had to call Rob True out because the chemicals they mixed were kind of toxic. They had to wear hazmat suits and respirators. He said whoever did it should have sick that afternoon because the only opening was in the wall and the ventilation as poor.”

Vandals also painted offensive phrases and symbols on the walls.

The break-in happened late at night according to Klomes. The vandals broke through the back wall to avoid the alarms on the doors. Klomes noted that there are no motion sensors inside the builds due to animals getting into them. 

He said that the Elks Club was already considering putting in cameras with the new trail going in next to the golf course. Those cameras will definitely be purchased now.

The vandals poured fertilizer and fungicides into the gas tanks of all of the equipment.

The Elks Club is looking at between $70,000 and $75,000 in damages. Klomes knows that money could have been put to better use.

True’s Service was able to get seven of the devices cleaned up and running, while the tractor was taken to Ausra’s Equipment & Supply and they gave the Elks a quote of $2,500 to repair it. The John Deere is going to be a total loss.

The Elks regularly donate to causes throughout the year such as Feed the Hungry and cancer services. He cannot understand how someone could attack a non-profit organization like this.

“We donated to the football team, little league, soccer, Graduation Celebration, the backback program at the church and to others,” he said. “We probably donate $25,000 to $30,000 a year to the community.”