Lee County Red Cross Vandalized

April 3, 2010

The Chapter House of the Lee County Red Cross was vandalized Thursday night.  Here is a letter from Executive Director Jenner Ryan.

Good Morning;

I am sorry to have to tell you all that The Red Cross office in Opelika was vandalized last night.  The vandals spray painted the back of our building, our disaster response truck, our storage shed, a chapter van and the trailer of a contractor who was doing work on our renovation project.  (A few pictures are attached). Opelika Police Department is investigating and we will press charges if the perpetrators are caught.

Luckily, the vandals did not enter the building or do any structural damage, but still this will be an expense that we had not anticipated.  A local volunteer, Shey Knight, owner of Autosport, was called this morning and he came and took our disaster truck as well as the contractor’s trailer and is trying to remove the spray paint before it has time to set. Hopefully the vehicles will not have to be completely re-painted but that is still a possibility. The building and the shed will have to be re-painted.

I wanted to let you know what was going on. Media has been here today and we will be reaching out to the public for support during this time. One of our local reporters, Elizabeth White, even offered to call on our behalf and see if we can get Crime Stoppers to offer a $2,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the vandals. 

I will keep you informed as to the progress of our case.  Thank you for your continued support of the American Red Cross.

Jennifer D. Ryan

Executive Director & CEO

American Red Cross

Lee County Chapter

206 26th St.

Opelika, AL 36801

334-749-9981