Vandals cover Benson Park building with graffiti

HUDSON Vandals covered the former gorilla building and a retaining wall with graffiti and destroyed a sign at Benson Park, a town official said Tuesday.

The damage occurred sometime after the park once home to the former Bensons Wild Animal Farm closed at 9 p.m. Monday, said Harry Schibanoff, who chairs the subcommittee that oversees maintenance and operations of the 166-acre, town-owned, recreational park.

Town officials learned of the damage after the park reopened at 5 a.m. Tuesday, he said.

In the interior portion of the gorilla house, there was graffiti on just about every wall, including the ceiling, Schibanoff said.

A rear retaining wall in the former bear cage also was covered with graffiti, he said.

A lot of volunteers have put thousands of hours of work into this park. Its very discouraging to see something like this happen, Schibanoff said.

He could not estimate what it would cost to remove the graffiti and repair the damage, but he anticipated the town would rely heavily on volunteers to get it done.

Hudson police had no information on the incident when contacted early Tuesday night.

Schibanoff said he does not believe police have any suspects.

Bensons Wild Animal Park, which also had been known as Bensons Wild Animal Farm, closed in 1987. The town bought the site and reopened it in 2010 as Benson Park.

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Vandals cover Benson Park building with graffiti