By MIKE JAMES — The Independent
Ashland — Vandals spray painted graffiti over large swaths of the Ashland Paul Blazer High School campus on the eve of its annual football grudge match with Boyd County High.
Obscenities and obscene images were sprayed in red, and the vandals targeted newly paved sidewalks and recently installed windows at the school, which is undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation.
“I assume it was related to the game,” said superintendent Steve Gilmore. Some of the graffiti tags referred to Boyd County, he said.
The words and images were too obscene to leave alone so maintenance workers worked through the morning to scrub away and, in some cases, paint over, the damaged areas.
Ashland police are interviewing potential witnesses and suspects, said Lt. Mark McDowell. The vandalism was extensive enough that any culprits police catch may be charged with felonies, he said.
Gilmore said he’d spoken to Boyd County superintendent Howard K. Osborne and they have come up with some potential suspects.
The Ashland-Boyd County rivalry has existed for years but has been mostly friendly, Gilmore said.
He suspects the vandals were more interested in mischief than in football. “It’s been a good rivalry, but this has nothing to do with football rivalry.”
MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2652.
