Reward offered on Fresno vandalism

A few bits of the weekend's vandalism of the Fresno Pavilion remain on the back of the building Monday afternoon. A series of black, white and red markings, mostly the letters "XIV", were spray-painted on the building sometime Sunday night. The Fresno Chapter of Walleye's Unlimited, which built the pavilion, is offering $500 for a tip to the Hill County Sheriff's Office that leads to identifying the culprits.

After someone vandalized the pavillion above Fresno Reservoir's main public beach over the weekend, members of the Fresno Chapter of Walleye's Unlimited, the group that built the pavilion, are not only upset, they're offering a reward.

Sometime Sunday night several parts of the pavilion were covered in black, red and white paint, including signs, walls and a rock placed next to the pavilion in memory of Walleye's member Jim Rettig.

The graffiti took several shapes, from blacking out text on signs, to a pattern of the letters "XIV, " the Roman numeral for 14.

Cliff Plum, former president of the organization, said the crime is awful.

"It's disappointing and upsetting to say the least, how people can be so careless with other people's property, " Plum said. "The amount of money it's going to take to clean the mess up could be better used for kids in the area. It's just very disappointing. "

Plum said he and the group have come up with a few theories, including that 14 is a reference to the class of 2014, this year's juniors in high school. Plum also said he saw on the Internet that a gang in Chicago uses those graffiti tags, but that's not very likely.

"Why they would come all the way to Havre and Fresno and do that? " Plum said. "I don't know. I don't think so. It's not likely. "

If anyone does know anything about the crime, Plum said they should call the Hill County Sheriff's Office. For anyone who offers a tip that leads to catching the culprits, Walleye's Unlimited is offering a $500 reward.