A beloved one-room schoolhouse is the latest local cultural treasure to sustain significant damage after a weekend attack by as yet unnamed suspects left the Kragero School in Santiago Township battered but unbroken.

 

Owner Tom Barthel noticed the damage while travelling around his farm early Tuesday morning.  He and his wife Gail Wilkinson were at the site Thursday afternoon, looking over the damage done to the inside of the school and planning future repairs.

 

The suspects first tried to force a side door on the structure, Barthel said, and then gained entry by breaking through a plexiglass window near the front of the building. Once inside, they smashed windows on both sides of the school and took heavy hammers to one of the newly-restored blackboards. 

 

They also used the hammers to smash the original porcelain sink at the front of the building and caved in the side of the unique copper tank that fed the school drinking fountain.  “That was a real tragedy,” Barthel said, noting that it will be impossible to find exact replacements for either of the items.  A new table in the same area was also destroyed in the attack. The suspects also kicked out the front door during the rampage.

 

“At least we had the Fourth,” Wilkinson said, referring to the Fourth of July party held at the school just two days before the incident.  The school is also the site of a popular neighborhood picnic, and is used to teach classes such as weaving and other “old time” skills. 

 

The schoolhouse currently has blue plastic sheeting nailed over the broken windows to keep the weather out while repairs are considered.  Earlier this year, the interior had been repainted and the blackboards restored to like-new condition in advance of the planned summer events, Wilkinson said.

 

The building has been broken into at least eight times in the past two years, Barthel said, but never with this level of damage.  Last fall, vandals sprayed the contents of fire extinguishers around the schoolroom, making it necessary to remove all of the items inside and repaint the walls.  An antique school bell was stolen from the building in one of the earlier incidents.

 

Deputies from the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office were called to the scene after the damage was discovered and the matter remains under investigation, though calls seeking more information on the case were not returned by press time.

 

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Crime Stoppers unit at (763) 765-3500.  A $1,000 reward is being offered for a tip that leads to an arrest, though callers can also remain anonymous.