WHATELY – The town and its Police Department are investigating vandalism to Herlihy Park that damaged the baseball and soccer fields Friday night.

Whately Recreation Director Chris Williams said the Whately Police Department is investigating the damage at the park, where high school and youth teams play spring and fall sports. Photos posted by the Whately Fire Department Sunday morning show large circles of tire tracks ripped into the field.

“It looks like a good amount of the baseball field, the soccer field, that’s all pretty torn up. There were clearly multiple vehicles that were out there facilitating the damage,” Williams said. “Just a disappointing situation.”

Williams said the damage is estimated to be around $1,000, but the true cost won’t be known until the spring. No other facilities, which have been upgraded in recent years, were damaged.

As for if the fields will be ready for the spring sports season, Williams said they are “not concerned about that at all.”

“We have a great Rec Commission, we have a bunch of volunteers in town … who are always quick to answer the call when our town and our kids need something,” he said. “We’ll be playing baseball day one.”

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.