Over Columbus Day weekend, a case of vandalism was reported at Camp Arrowhead, a summer day camp in Natick for students with special needs.

The vandals used a crowbar to access the main building of the camp where they destroyed approximately $3,500 worth of equipment. A glass cooler, window, glass cased bulletin board, and 2 glass top stoves were among the damaged items. Two out of the three doors to the camp buildings were pushed in, and there was graffiti on the walls.

It was estimated that the vandals broke in to Camp Arrowhead on the Saturday or Sunday night of Columbus Day weekend. The vandalism was discovered sometime late Monday of that weekend by a fisherman on Lake Cochituate. The fisherman noticed that a door had been pushed in and notified the police, who investigated the situation.

Dick Cugini, the head of Camp Arrowhead, suspected that the vandals had expected to find something more valuable in the buildings.

“Well, I think it’s curiosity,” said Cugini. “I think [the vandals] thought that there was maybe something really good in there to take, and I think when they got in there and they couldn’t find anything then they just [started] smashing things for no reason.”

When Camp Arrowhead closed for the season in mid-August, the portable valuables were taken out of the buildings. There were no campers or staff at the camp during the incident.

“For the campers, the best way to describe it is, this is their time that they really look forward to getting out of school like everybody else. But it’s their one opportunity to really have a great recreational and social summer,” said Cugini.

Camp Arrowhead offers six week long day camp sessions and one week long overnight session. There is a variety of activities for campers, ranging from drama, to arts and crafts, to swimming. The campers also go on field trips and attend special events organized by the camp.

Along with these programs, Camp Arrowhead also features an adaptive learning skills program in which campers are important life skills are “reinforced,” such as eating and becoming familiar with cooking utensils.

The camp’s hope is to replace all the damaged units, fortify the doors, and install a new alarm system to prevent any vandalism from occurring again.

After hearing about this incident, two businesses donated two stoves to Camp Arrowhead, and a school system  donated a television similar to the one that was broken.The camp has also been working on repairing some of the broken glass. So far, the cost of the damages has been cut from $3,500 to under $1,000, and it seems that tuition for the campers will not be affected.

“It’s honestly senseless vandalism. And I just hope that the person or persons, if they really knew who they were hurting, if they ever broke into a place like this again, they then would consider before they start damaging things,” said Cugini. “To smash things for no reason and put people in a financial burden, it’s not necessary. It’s unnecessary.”

Police are monitoring the area around Camp Arrowhead.

If you are interested in donating, attending, volunteering, or finding out more about Camp Arrowhead, call the Natick Recreation Department at 508-647-6530.