Lancaster County Amish Schoolhouse Vandalized, Police Investigating
Details are scarce but the Daily Voice is reporting on an Amish school being broken into last month in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania:
The burglary happened at a schoolhouse on Dry Wells Road in Bart Township on Sunday, Jan. 19 at 8:13 a.m., according to the release.
Troopers from the Lancaster Patrol Unit responded to the scene for a report of criminal mischief, police said.
Through the course of the investigation, it was discovered that an unknown individual unlawfully gained entry into the structure and vandalized its interior.
The front exterior door was damaged, with an estimated value of $300, authorities said.
They also report that the investigation is ongoing, though no suspects have been identified. This information was apparently just announced by the Pennsylvania State Police today.
You wonder what the idea was here. The headline of the Daily Voice article describes the school as being “burglarized”, though I am not seeing information on what was stolen.
Though (and I’m not a legal expert), I believe it may still be considered a form of burglary if someone entered unlawfully, even though nothing was taken. As the FBI puts it, burglary is “the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft. To classify an offense as a burglary, the use of force to gain entry need not have occurred.”
Did this person expect to find a lot of easily monetizable valuables inside an Amish school? Or was this someone who wanted to simply mess with an Amish school?
“Vandalized” the interior doesn’t tell a whole lot – did someone spray paint the inside, or damage property in some way? Could this have been some unruly/bored youth just getting into trouble, or was it someone with a grudge against the Amish? questions here.
The Amish in Lancaster County of course are no stranger to crime. Some of the criminal actions against them have been financially motivated – as we saw, for example, with whoever stole puppies worth thousands of dollars from an Amish farm last year. And of course some crime has had a much darker aspect – notably the kidnap and murder of 18-year-old Amish girl Linda Stoltzfoos.
That’s also not to mention the most notorious crime at an Amish school – the Nickel Mines tragedy, nearly 20 years ago. I’m sure it’s not nice for Amish parents to hear about their schools being messed with. I wish the police success in their investigation.
