VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — A baseball field across from the Kempsville Recreation Center in Virginia Beach has been patched up after it was vandalized over the weekend.

Images from a WAVY viewer showed someone drove onto the field and made a series of donuts on the field Sunday night. A blurry photo showed a Jeep in the parking lot next to the field. As a result, the grass on the field was burned due to the tires of the car spinning. 

10 On Your Side spoke with Shawn Hopson, a Superintendent with Virginia Beach Parks and Landscape Services. Hopson says his crews flattened out the surface Monday and the grass should be back in two weeks. Additionally, opening day is on as scheduled in just a few weeks. 

According to resident, the Kempsville Recreation Association spends hours to maintain this field and others and the result of the vandalism is very upsetting. 

Megan Sweeney and Frank McGuire Junior have a child playing baseball at Kempsville Recreation League, which works hand-in-hand with the Kempsville Recreation Center. Both are Virginia Beach Unified Softball League Chairpersons, as well. 

She sent a statement, saying in part: 

“It was disheartening to see how someone would do such a senseless act to vandalize a local sports complex that provides youth sports to thousands in our community.  John Dorsett (KRA President) and all the other dedicated KRA volunteers spend countless hours and work tirelessly to maintain the three fields at KRA.  The six Recreation Associations in our area, including Kempsville Rec Association, are ALL volunteer driven and such senseless vandalism is disrespectful to not only to our youth, but to our volunteers as well.  Vandalism, like what occurred on the fields at KRA, make play unsafe for our youth.  However, Virginia Beach is blessed with such a strong and supportive baseball and softball community.  Social Media postings about the incident yielded thousands of shares to get the word out about what occurred, hundreds of comments of support and offerings to help repair the field. VB Parks and Recreation Landscape crews have already been to the field to fill in the ruts created by the vehicle to make the playing area playable again and VBPD was able to apprehend the suspect/s.  Opening Day will forward for baseball and softball!”

Many parents and neighbors tell 10 On Your Side that they’ve heard the suspect surrendered to police after thousands of social media shares. However, Virginia Beach cannot confirm that information as of Tuesday night.