Vandalism at the former Signal Mountain Middle School has gotten so severe that Hamilton County school officials have provided police with a key to the building to make it easier, and safer, for them to carry out their recurring investigations.

During recent months, Signal Mountain Police Chief Boyd Veal said, responding officers repeatedly were forced to gain access to the vacant, isolated building on Ault Street by climbing through windows that had been broken by vandals.

He said he brought the problem to the attention of Hamilton County Commissioner Richard Casavant, who helped arrange for police to get a key so investigators could enter safely.

At the current time, Chief Veal said, police have not made any arrests related to the ongoing vandalism.

“Of course, if we did know the identities of the vandals and were close to making an arrest, I wouldn’t tell you,” he said frankly.

Recent damage to the building includes the materialization of what appears to be gang-related graffiti.

One spray-painted graffiti, for example, includes the words “FOLK LOVE” and a pitchfork – an apparent symbol of the Chicago-based Folk or Hoover Nation alliance of gangs reportedly “popping up all over the South,” according to authorities on gangs.

A publication by the Florida Department of Corrections “Gang and Security Threat Awareness,” explains there are two major Chicago-based alliances – the People Nation and the Folk Nation – which are not gangs, but entities under which various gangs align themselves.

“A simple comparison might be the National and American baseball leagues,” the publication explains. “The National League is not a team - it is the alliance under which teams like the LA Dodgers and Atlanta Braves are aligned. The American League is the alliance under which the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees are aligned.”

At SMMS, vandalism has been an escalating problem since 2007, when a new middle school opened and the former one left vacant. The property currently is in legal limbo due to a dispute between school officials, would-be purchaser Tom Poteet and county commissioners over its value.

According to police, early vandalism after the school was left vacant was minor and did if any little permanent damage. A report filed the night of Halloween 2007, for example, indicated trees around the former school had been rolled with toilet paper and eggs had been thrown at the front of the gym.

As time passed and the building continued to sit empty, however, vandals grew bolder and the damage more severe and expensive to repair.

Just this fall, Hamilton County Department of Education has spent more than $1,000 replacing broken windows, according to information provided by Gary Waters, associate superintendent of auxiliary services.

In some instances, Chief Veal said, the vandalism has been discovered by officers during routine patrols of the property. In others, it has been reported by witnesses who have observed damage and/or suspicious activity.

Police reports indicate early vandals concentrated on damaging and/or destroying the exterior of the former school.

On October 19, 2008, for example, officers responding to a complaint about vandalism on the property reported finding:

* The name “Josh” painted on the football field in white field paint.

* Both soccer goals overturned and the nets thrown into trees.

* Eight lacrosse net straps and 14 soccer net straps cut.

* A rock that had been used to break open the lock to the concession stand in which several cases of soft drinks were destroyed.

* Damage to two walls of a storage shed caused “by someone possibly kicking them out.”

But three months later, on December 29, 2008, police responded to an “audible alarm” at the vacant school and discovered vandals had entered the building and done extensive damage.

The investigating officer said after he climbed through a broken window, he and other members of the police department found “three fire alarms to be going off, two of which had apparently been smashed with a large rock that was found inside the school with some red paint matching the fire alarms embedded in it.”

Further, he said, they discovered that the glass in a trophy case had been smashed and its shards scattered on the floors.
They said they talked to then-SMMS principal Eddie Gravitte, who reported “some high school wrestlers had been in the building for wrestling practice a few days prior and had sprayed out some fire extinguishers, but . . . the glass had not been broken out of the trophy cases at that time.”

As 2009 progressed, the vandalism escalated. Recently, investigators have begun discovering spray-painted graffiti in addition to broken alarms, smashed windows and defaced property throughout the building.

On Oct. 19, for example, Signal Mountain Police and Hamilton County Sheriff’s deputies were summoned to investigate after an officer climbed through a window found broken and discovered extensive damage inside.

“The building was searched and a lot of glass was broken throughout the building and graffiti on several walls . . . (in) the main part of the building they observed graffiti on the wall saying ‘Red Bank’ . . . There are several paint cans throughout the school that were possibly used that finger prints may be pulled from.”