Staff at the Honolulu Zoo made a disturbing discovery Monday afternoon.
Vandals left their mark on six zoo exhibits.
Honolulu police have launched an investigation.
Zoo officials say this is the first time something of this magnitude and severity has happened at the Honolulu Zoo.
“For us to have this occur is like having your home burglarized. You feel violated,” said Sidney Quintal, the city’s director of enterprise services.Rusty and Violet the Hippo's home is one of six exhibits at the Honolulu Zoo that were tagged.
"It appears to be the same type of marking,” said Quintal.
The others include the Komodo dragon, crocodile, wild dog, hippo, and cheetah exhibits.
"It looks like a sharp object that was scratched against the glass was used,” said Quintal.
Twenty-one viewing panels in all.
Zoo officials say it happened sometime between noon and 2 p.m.
“And at that time there was only 1\one guard because the keepers were on lunch. And the other guard is in the keiki zoo,” said Colin Berongis, Honolulu Zoo security guard.
Approximately 1,500 people visited the zoo on Monday.
So far, no witnesses have come forward with information on who's behind this monkey business.
“We've had isolated incidents of people coming in and doing marking but as far as this type of tagging vandalism this is the first I can recall,” said Quintal.
And this happened at a time when the zoo's budget is already stretched thin.
Quintail says, “The easiest fix would be to buff them out if we could if not we have to replace the panels,” which could cost thousands of dollars.
“Our staff members are committed to creating the visitors experience that the zoo offers and to have individuals come in and purposely do it,” said Quintal.
If you have any information that could help police with this case, call CrimeStoppers at #955-8300.
