The Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum and several of its historic railcars were vandalized recently, Board Chairman Gerry Smith said.

Windows were broken in the museum and some of the railcars. Paint was sprayed on the back of the building, the outside of several railcars, the inside of one and along a stone path between the building and cars.

Most of the damage is believed to have occurred in the last few weeks, though some happened earlier this year, Smith said. A double-paned window to the gift shop was recently repaired after someone threw a rock through it this summer. A few months ago someone shoved a concrete block through a sliding baggage door panel on the 1917 trolley to the side of the museum, Smith said. That trolley is the last one to have run in Washington County — on Aug. 4, 1947.

Museum members spotted more vandalism to the rear of the property recently, including to three cabooses from the 1930s and a Chesapeake & Ohio café car.

"We're disgusted, dismayed," Smith said Tuesday after showing a reporter the damage. Members of the nonprofit museum are trying to preserve local rail transportation history.

The museum at 300 S. Burhans Blvd. was closed to the public after March 8 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Smith said. Recently, several volunteers have been working inside, remodeling the upstairs. The museum cannot achieve social distancing because of the narrow hallway and stairway. While members have discussed briefly opening the museum to visitors this holiday season, there are no definite plans given the spiking COVID numbers, he said.

People, including youths, still walk behind the museum to see the historic railcars, so it's disturbing that children could see the spray-painted profanity and images, Smith said.

Smith said he doesn't know why the museum property was targeted.

The nonprofit leases the museum building and part of a parking lot from CSX, which has a rail yard and office along Burhans Boulevard. Behind the museum and railroad tracks is a wooded area that has a history of homeless people living there.

Much of the recent vandalism includes graffiti, mostly red paint, featuring cursing and inappropriate images. Themes associated with the Black Lives Matter movement also were spray-painted on train cars and the building, including multiple "BLM" graffiti. The phrase "No Jusice [sic] No Peace," which has a decades-long history associated with racial injustices, was painted on the side of a rare Baltimore & Ohio caboose that features a curved wagon top, Smith said.

Jocelyn Hockaday, a leader of the local BLM group, said she would hate to see a negative message assigned with Black Lives Matter. While graffiti can be a form of art, people shouldn't spray-paint on privately-owned structures, she said.

Black Lives Matter is about spreading awareness of the mistreatment of the black community and the injustices it has endured, she said.

Hagerstown Police Lt. Rebecca Fetchu confirmed in an email that police responded to the museum property on Saturday when an employee reported vandalism. Four train cars had been vandalized with red spray paint.

In addition to the "BLM" messages and curse words, the police report mentioned a door window had been broken, Fetch wrote. The estimated cost to fix that window was $150 and repainting costs were estimated to be about $100.

Smith said a final damage estimate wasn't available yet.

Multiple windows were broken out of caboose cars, including a door window on the end of a yellow and green Reading Co. caboose. Someone went inside and spray-painted the inside of the caboose, including some 1965 Western Maryland Railway historic documents left inside to show visitors during museum events, Smith said.

Museum members started boarding up some of the broken windows and raked a stone path that visitors walk along to cover up spray painted messages on the gravel, he said. They are waiting on further repairs until the insurance adjuster inspects the latest damage, Smith said.

Like other nonprofits, the museum is struggling with revenue during the pandemic, he said.

Anyone with information about the vandalism may contact Hagerstown Police Officer Repp at Trepp@hagerstownpd.org, Fetchu wrote.

Protesting is one thing, vandelising privet property is quite another. I would be looking for someone (probably male) between 12 an 25 with a can of paint.

The caveat is that this is western maryland, I'd suspect that it's someone 17 to 29 who is trying to do a "false flag" operation. hagarstown isn't exactly a hotbed of second rate wanna be "cooldiscodan"s.

My point is that to many, myself included, the violent protests, random violence, and private property destruction have become much more synonymous with this movement than any positive actions or peaceful protests have.