EUGENE, Ore - Vandals smashed the plane glass windows in the Eugene Police Department's Monroe Street Station Thursday night or early Friday morning.

A police van and a parole and probation car in the parking lot were also damaged, but civilian cars in the area were unharmed, prompting police to believe law enforcement was the target of the attack.

"There had to be a lot of rage behind this incident, whoever did it," said Sgt. Mike Gailick with the Eugene Police Department.
Gailick works at the Monroe substation on 6th street. Around 5 a.m. Friday, the station was vandalized.

Two glass windows at the front of the building were smashed in.

Windows to a police van and a patrol cruiser were found broken.

Police are asking anyone who may have information in this case contact the Eugene Police Department at (541) 682.8888

Gailick said this type of crime doesn't make sense to him. "You know, we let people come in and use the bathrooms, counsel people, talk to people. We're help," he says. "We're an assistance. So for someone to come and damage this building, we take it kind of personal."

Police believe a baseball bat or some other type of heavy object was used to break the windows.

Now neighbors, like Eugene Winters, tell KVAL News they feel living next to a police station gives them a false sense of security.

"It's too close too home," says Winters. "So if they're willing to take a chance over there, where there are cameras and things, they're willing to take a chance anywhere."

Cheyenne Kjessler, a co-owner of Finish Line Coffee which sits across the street from the police station, said the neighborhood has a reputation.

"We have had people come by and hitting themselves against the building and doing weird stuff," she said

But Kjessler is still surprised a vandal would be so brazen. "I mean it's the police, you don't do that!" she said.

Sgt. Gailick said both damaged vehicles are used daily, so not only will this damage cost them a lot of money but it's costing officers valuable time with the community.

While police are no stranger to crime, it's not every day something like this happens.

While the motive remains unclear, "we do want to know, you know, what's involved behind this," Gailick said. "Because we've been targeted before. And if there's something going on out in the community, we want to know."

This is the second time the station has been vandalized this year. Back in January, a police van was sprayed with graffiti.

The suspect has been described as a large white male, 5'10" to 6'. The man might have a goatee beard.

A version of this story first appeared on the KVAL Communities Whiteaker site.