Damage caused to a concession stand at Armstrong Athletics' facility in Kittanning by a group of juvenile vandals earlier this week. Submitted photo

Armstrong Athletics, a baseball and softball club located in Kittanning, is bouncing back after a concession stand at their facility was damaged and burglarized by vandals on Saturday, May 3.

According to Jayson Elwood, president of the club, the individuals responsible for the damage were later identified thanks to an bystander who witnessed the incident as it happened and called 911.

“It was four juveniles that broke into the stand,” Elwood told the Butler Eagle. “There was an eyewitness that came forward, and she identified the kids and even approached them when it happened on Saturday.”

Elwood reached out to the public through social media on Monday, May 5, asking for help identifying those responsible for causing damage to the concession stand.

“Over the weekend, weather did not destroy our property,” Elwood wrote on Armstrong Athletics’ Facebook page. “But humans took it upon themselves to break into the concession stand at Jud Field, steal from our organization and vandalize it.”

According to Elwood, the vandals stole $150 in cash and hundreds of dollars worth of candy, emptied the contents of a fire extinguisher over the interior and damaged both a microwave and water dispenser.

“We just stocked (the stand) for the spring, so there were fresh boxes of candy in there,” Elwood said. “They stole quite a bit of it.”

Elwood says that “someone from the community” has reached out to compensate the athletic club for the damage and that the concession stand has already been cleaned up.

“It’ll be operational tonight for a baseball game,” Elwood said on Wednesday.