Crime & Safety

Graffiti Taggers Hit Port Jeff's Centennial Park

Vandalism found on Monday morning.

A representative of the Setauket Yacht Club reported to Port Jefferson village code that graffiti taggers had defaced the wall in Centennial Park on Sunday night.

A repeating pattern of lettering was sprayed in purple all along the white wall, known for sporting a mural of a pair of mermaids and seahorses with the words “Port Jefferson Village” and “Centennial Park” painted on it. The wall is located in Centennial Park on Port Jefferson Harbor at the end of the parking lot and underneath the .

Suffolk Police said that a call came into 911 on Monday at 1:40 p.m. reporting criminal mischief to a retaining wall at the beach sometime on Sunday night.

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Port Jefferson Chief Constable Wally Tomaszewski confirmed the report on Monday night at the village board of trustees meeting.

“We just had it reported that over Sunday night Centennial Park was done up in graffiti,” he told the public and village board members.

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In paperwork filed about the incident, Tomaszewski reported that someone from Setauket Yacht Club made the complaint to Village Code and then they called police. He said that Setauket Yacht Club owns the wall.

Residents also complained at the board meeting about graffiti that recently appeared on the overpass.

Carol Ann Walsh, a resident of the Highlands in Port Jefferson village said that she contacted the about the graffiti on the north wall of the train station bringing pictures with her. She said she was told to call the C.O.P.E. squad and left a message with them.

"Clearly there’s some criminal mischief," Walsh - who is concerned about safety in the area - said to Suffolk County police officers at the meeting. She said the graffiti has been partly painted over.

It's not just the vandalism that worries her.

"I’m concerned that there is gang activity," she said.

Vandals also recently hit the in Upper Port Jefferson.

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