Vandals struck University Navy, Army, and Air Force ROTC offices early Tuesday morning, defacing property with anti-war messages.
Maury Hall, the location of Navy ROTC offices, sustained the most damage of the three buildings, according to reports from University Police Sgt. Melissa Fielding and Naval Science Prof. Capt. Dick Bedford.
A welcome mat emblazoned with the ROTC logo in the building's foyer was defaced with white paint, and pictures of President George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld were stolen from nearby, Bedford said.
Outside the building's auditorium, a Marines recruiting poster was removed and replaced with a sign that read "don't bomb Iraqi children." The word "empire" was written on a world map inside the room.
In an earlier incident, a computer and monitor, valued at $2,200, also were stolen from Maury Hall, sometime between March 14 and 17, Fielding said.
The theft is probably not related to the vandalism, and the computer contained no sensitive information, Bedford said.
In the Army ROTC offices located in the basement of New Cabell Hall, vandals stole recruiting posters, pictures of cadets and a letter from University President John T. Casteen III praising the program for its recent recognition as one of the top battalions nationwide, according to Lt. Colonel Hampton Hite. Anti-war messages also were scribbled on departmental bulletin boards.
"I respect [students'] right to protest the war," Hite said. "But I'd appreciate them not vandalizing my offices --- that's against the law and I think also against the honor code."
The Air Force ROTC program, located in Varsity Hall, was relatively unscathed by vandalism, as the building is locked and inaccessible at night, Captain Cathy Schafer said.
However, "no war" was spray-painted on the rear of the building, she said.
"I don't think vandalism is the appropriate way of protesting any issue," Schafer said. "My sense is that the cadets are kind of disappointed in the actions of what they are assuming are their peers at the University."
Fielding said an eyewitness to the incident in Maury Hall described the five vandals as an Indian female, an Asian female, a Hispanic male and two other males of unspecified ethnicity.
Investigation into the vandalism at all three locations is ongoing, said University Police Capt. Michael Coleman
Bedford said he is most upset by the clandestine nature in which the vandals attempted to communicate their message, noting that the pictures of Bush and Rumsfeld were returned with an unsigned letter explaining the thieves' position on the war.
"My great hope is that someone would have signed it," Bedford said. "Not so that I would scurry about to throw them in jail. I'd just be glad to see they had the gumption and moral courage" to leave their names.
University Police Department officials are requesting that persons with any information on the vandalism contact them by phone at 924-7166, or anonymously online at www.virginia.edu/uvapolice.
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