GALVESTON, Texas — Four men have been arrested on criminal mischief charges for vandalizing a World War II ship on display at a Galveston park.
The USS Stewart, a destroyer escort, at SeaWolf Park had been restored since being damaged during Hurricane Ike Sept. 13, 2008.
Before dawn Thursday, police found four men hiding aboard the ship, which they had covered with fire extinguisher powder. The men allegedly sprayed the substance over the deck and much of the ship's interior.
Penny Miller, the executive director of the American Undersea Warfare Center at the park, told the Houston Chronicle that the solvent they sprayed would add to the ship's rust problem. Volunteers, mostly veterans, had worked to repair the rust damage after Ike.