Columbus police are hoping to identify individuals caught on a surveillance camera vandalizing the Columbus Putt-Putt Miniature Golf Course on Jan. 1.
Owner Carl Miller is offering a $200 reward for information leading to the identification of the suspects, who caused more than $5,000 in damage to the facility.
Four people are shown on surveillance cameras, including one wearing an Indiana University sweatshirt, police said.
Two of the golf courses’ miniature animals, a zebra and a giraffe, were overturned and broken, and vandals broke out about a dozen fluorescent lights throughout the facility, Miller said.
Miller had stopped by the course at 10th Street and Marr Road at about 6:30 to 7 p.m Jan. 1 to turn on security lights, he said. The business is closed for the winter and is not rescheduled to reopen until April.
When he returned at about 9:30 a.m. the next day, he found vandalism to the figurines, which are 4 to 6 feet tall, and broken glass showered over the Putt-Putt greens and walkways.
Miller, who owns the business with his wife Karen, said it has been at the corner of 10th Street and Marr Road since 1987 and would be celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
The Millers said they plan to complete repairs before a planned reopening in April.
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Anyone with information about the Putt-Putt Miniature Golf Course vandalism on Jan. 1 is asked to contact Columbus Police Department detective Sgt. Tom Foust at 812-376-2642. Tips and information may also be left anonymously.
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