Bryan Fountain Vandalized

A van­dal­ism com­plaint at One Cour­t­house Square led deputies to find that some­one had carved grafit­tie on the rim of the foun­tain there. The graf­fiti referred, in graphic detail, to the 1946 mur­der of Emily Aber­nathy, who was mur­dered by James R. Engle in the base­ment of the Williams County Pub­lic Library, less than a block away from where the foun­tain stands, and the docu­d­rama about the event that is set to pre­mier tomor­row evening in the Bryan Arts and Edu­ca­tion Cen­ter. Accord­ing to the Bryan Times, no dam­age was done to the library com­plex, but the grafitti included pro­fan­ity and dam­aged the foun­tain. As the inves­ti­ga­tion widens, extra secu­rity guards will be in place for Saturday’s pre­miere. City offi­cials say the dam­age to the foun­tain is repairable. They also say that video sur­veil­lance cap­tured the guy actu­ally sit­ting there doing it, and they say they got a very good shot of his face, so he should be easy to track down. That sur­veil­lance footage has been turned over to the Williams County Sheriff’s Office. The inci­dent remains under inves­ti­ga­tion, and any­one who may have some infor­ma­tion about it is asked to call the sheriff’s office.