A teenage girl has been arrested and another suspect is being sought in connection to vandalism of one of the city’s south pier lighthouses.
“A 16-year-old female has been arrested and referred to Ottawa County Family Court on malicious destruction of property charges,” Grand Haven Public Safety Director Jeff Hawke said. “An arrest warrant for malicious destruction of property has been requested from the Ottawa County Prosecutor’s Office for a 20-year-old Hesperia man.”
According to Hawke, the two suspects were identified from names that were written with the graffiti, as well as with interviews with those who were allegedly involved in the incident.
“An approximate 6-foot by 6-foot area on the side of the farthest lighthouse was defaced with a black permanent marker,” the chief said.
The city and the Grand Haven Lighthouse Conservancy recently recognized Grand Haven public safety officer James Kibbart, who was responsible for apprehending and arresting suspects involved in the lighthouse vandalism case.
“I’m really appreciative of the work (the Department of) Public Safety did to identify the people that did it,” Mayor Geri McCaleb said.
McCaleb condemned the actions of the people involved in the vandalism, and said that anyone writing on the lighthouses is doing a disservice to everyone who made contributions to get the icons improved.
“We spent so much time getting them to be beautiful, and we don’t want people writing on them,” McCaleb said. “It took a lot of work and a lot of money, and it takes a lot of work and a lot of money to fix what they’ve done. ... Whatever we can do to be a deterrent to that, I’m all for it.”
This article originally appeared in the Grand Haven Tribune.
