The Center for the Arts building has seen a recent rash of thefts and vandalism, according to faculty and Safety Services reports.

The door window to room 340, the digital art lab, was broken at 1:45 a.m. Sept. 25 while the door was locked, according to Safety Services.

Days later, members of the journalism and digital media faculty arrived to find the television studio’s doors ajar, its lights turned on and one of its computers’ hard drives wiped clean.

Tim McCarty, professional instructor of broadcast communication in journalism & digital media, said that a purposeful vandalism isn’t certain but is the most likely occurrence.

“It’s not the first time we have had theft or tampering in our facility,” McCarty said.

Assistant Professor of Broadcast Communication Gretchen Dworznik said that the hard drive tampering couldn’t have been from a random person.

“Only a person with keys [to the studio] could have access,” Dworznik said.

The art department has been hit even harder. A computer monitor was stolen from the digital art lab, a roll of vinyl for the large format printer came up missing, and the window on the door to the lab was smashed in, according to Assistant Professor of Digital Art Jessica Maloney.

Maloney and Dave McLaughlin, director of Safety Services, both said that the Center for the Arts building, or CFA, seems to attract most of these incidents.

“More things happen in that building than others,” McLaughlin said, noting that students occupy the building throughout the day and night.

Both McLaughlin and Maloney said that reports have been made by students concerning Ashland locals wandering in the building, and young adults seen skateboarding in the halls and tearing down exhibition show cards from the wall on different occasions.

According to McLaughlin, students were seen skateboarding on the second floor of CFA the same night that the digital art lab’s door window was smashed.

“Now, can we say that these sightings and the vandalism and theft are related? Not necessarily,” Maloney said. “Does it seem like the two could have something to do with each other? Sure.”

Dr. Dawn Weber, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, has been made aware of these incidents and is adamant to maintain safety for students that need to use the building at all times.

“Students in CFA need to be able to access [the building] night and day to complete projects,” Weber said, also pointing out the “tremendous amount of equipment” in the building that requires security.

McLaughlin said that cameras are located around the building and multiple rounds are made by Safety Service officers each night. Despite this, he said, incidents will still occur and he suggests that students immediately report an incident and not wait until it is over to do so.

Maloney is currently trying to keep tight the use of the lab to prevent further incidents and, like Weber and McCarty, hopes to have further security in CFA’s facilities.

“It is unfortunate that we have to spend money on security, but that may be the only way to ensure a safe and secure learning environment for our students, which in the end is our main priority,” Maloney said.