Vandals damage Girl Guides camp in Notre-Dame

NOTRE-DAME, N.B. – Volunteers are left to clean up a mess after a campsite used by a New Brunswick Girl Guides group was vandalized last week.

Known as Camp Nebooktook, the campsite was left with several muddy tire tracks circling the fields after someone drove “doughnuts” on the property.

The vehicles also the splattered the mud, throwing large amounts of dirt on the main building and wheelchair ramp.

The incident happened early Thursday morning, but volunteers were not able to start repairing the campground until early this week.

“This is very hard to take, you know, that somebody would do this,” guide leader Margaret-Ann Kervin said Tuesday. “The volunteer effort that it’s going to take to get it back into shape, but we will do it.”

The campsite has been owned by the Girl Guides for 32 years, but Kervin said this is the first time the camp has been vandalized.

She said they reported the incident with the RCMP, but there is little hope of finding the person or people responsible.

The campsite is used by Girl Guides from across the Moncton area and this past weekend a dozen girls stayed at the camp despite the damage. The weekend had been planned for months, but they were not able to use their main games or usual sleeping areas.

Ten-year-old volunteer Jenna Ells stayed at the camp a few weeks ago. She came to the campsite Tuesday with her family to help rake the fields.

“I felt bad because people who never got to come here never got to see how nice it was,” she said. “We learned how to do stuff like put up tents.”

On Tuesday, the mud had dried, but deep ruts still marked the grass. The Girl Guides haven’t estimated the cost to repair the damage.