COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) Employees at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum arrived to work early this morning and discovered that the front entrance to the historic building had been vandalized with spray paint.
The Cooperstown Village Police were summoned. A department official on the scene said he could not comment because the investigation was continuing. He did indicate that there were no arrests pending and that there were no suspects at this time.
Jeff Idelson, President of the Hall of Fame, said there was no signs of forced entry to the museum and there was no sign that anything was missing. He did report, however, that a number of displays appeared to have been altered. “Maybe it’s just me,” he said, “but I don’t recall having so much memorabilia in the museum from the career of Pete Rose.”
Rose played baseball for the Cincinnati Reds from 1963 until 1978.
Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call the Cooperstown Village Police.
Tom Swyers, author of the upcoming baseball novel Saving Babe Ruth, has offered a fourteen thousand dollar reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the vandalism.