Vandals cause $500,000 in damages to a Jefferson County construction site; spray paint hate messages on walls
By Shoshana Stahl
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JEFFERSON COUNTY, Missouri (KMOV) — Vandalism to a construction site in Jefferson County on Thursday has led to hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.
Foreman Antony Ehrhart walked onto his job site Thursday morning to find damaged equipment and destroyed property.
“Disgusted,” Ehrhart said. “I literally felt sick to my stomach knowing that they messed with working men and their families and how they provide for their families.”
Glass windows of machinery were broken into, and some of that equipment was then used to destroy property.
“Went through, I believe it’s this building right here, went through the entire thing,” Ehrhart said. “Came out the back and drove around. Came out the first building. Tore everything up and then ended up getting stuck in the ditch.”
However, Ehrhart said the worst part of this is the hate messages spray painted on the walls.
Those messages targeted the Black community and Jewish community.
Ehrhart said some employees are afraid to come to work.
“Messing with people’s livelihoods and scaring people with a hate crime,” Ehrhart said. “It’s not fair to the people that work here. It’s not fair to the families that have to deal with this stuff.”
News 4 reached out to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office about this vandalism. The sheriff’s office confirmed three juvenile suspects had been identified but was limited in providing any additional information because of their age.
We’re told the investigation is ongoing.
Ehrhart said he goes by the property overnight to check on it to prevent any future issues.
“It leaves us behind first off and puts more pressure on the people who work here trying to get it done quicker,” Ehrhart said. “Puts more pressure on me as a foreman.”
The damage totals $500,000 and will delay construction for weeks while crews continue to rebuild what was destroyed and clean up the mess.
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