EAST PROVIDENCE — A basketball game gone wrong apparently led to an act of vandalism late Thursday evening, May 13, causing significant damage to the refurbished courts at Pierce Memorial Field.

A car and apparently some sort of flammable accelerant where used as the implements of the damage. East Providence Police responded to the incident, which took place at approximately 10 p.m. Thursday evening, according to Joe Medeiros, the grounds supervisor at Pierce.

Mr. Medeiros posted disturbing images of the damage on his personal Facebook page early Friday morning.

Upon arrival to work, he and his crew saw the destruction, which included skid marks and large burnt swatches of the court.

In his post, Mr. Medeiros wrote, "A late night incident involved someone burning a car on the newly refurbished basketball courts at Pierce Field ruining the tremendous job done by John Carnevale and his team."

John Carnevale is the city resident and activist who, among other athletic-centric projects in East Providence, spearheaded the renovation of the courts last year.

Later Friday morning, Mr. Medeiros said police indicated to him the perpetrators of the act were not East Providence residents.

"I think we can clean it up. I've got a couple of people coming down to look at it. We took some pictures for insurance purposes. We can clean it, but it's not going to look the same," Mr. Medeiros said.

Already Friday, Mr. Medeiros said numerous residents had called or stopped by to offer their assistance in the clean-up effort. Clarence "Junior" Butler, the president of the Friends of Townie Athletic Organization, told Mr. Medeiros his group would help pay for new fencing around the court to prevent such an act in the future.

"It's like a shrine over here," Mr. Medeiros said. "We've already got a tremendous response from people. It's a kick in the chops because so many worked on it. It represented a group project of people coming together from the community. It's a shame."

— Photos courtesy of Joe Medeiros