The empty campus during the winter interim provided thieves and vandals with the perfect opportunity to target vacant buildings for their crimes.
Petty criminals took advantage of Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity and Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority in particular at the end of last year.
Both the fraternity and sorority reported incidents of vandalism in the early hours on Dec. 13, according to Safety and Security's incident log.
Hanover Police captain Chris O'Connor said someone spray-painted derogatory comments and words on the walls of KDE's laundry room. That person also left undergarments hanging on the sprinkler pipes of the same room.
The laundry room was the only room where disturbances were reported, and nothing else was reported missing from the rest of the house.
Alpha Chi did not weather the winter break without incident either. In addition to a minor case of vandalism in their basement, several items were stolen from the house.
"Someone entered through the cellar window, stole the fraternity beer tap system, pong table and a large lifeguard chair from the cellar area. The suspects then spray painted a derogatory remark on the cellar door," O'Connor said.
Although the incidents took place at two Greek houses, Safety and Security officer Lauren Cummings said there is "reason to believe the incidents are probably unrelated to each other. I would not describe this as anything pandemic at this point. I don't think there's organizational involvement."
Kate Frias '98, who was KDE's president last term, said, "I know the contents of the message had nothing to do with the Greek system, per se. The way I understand it, the way it was written was some slurs against women. It's ignorant to write things like that, and of course we denounce it."
Frias indicated the house would probably have been more upset over the issue if the vandalism had occurred during the regular term. But because it was the interim period, she said, only one of the members actually saw the comments spray-painted on the walls.
Current Alpha Chi President Seth Kelly '99 said the house was concerned over the loss of its property, but would not speculate about who may have committed the crimes.
Investigations are currently underway, and Cummings expected the cases to be mostly solved by the end of the week.
Incidents like these have a tendency to increase during the hiatus between terms, especially the longer break before Winter term, when fewer people are on campus.
Other incidents of theft reported during interim include a $960 worth of CDs, $200 cash from an unlocked room and a laptop computer.
Student property was not the only target for criminals -- a portrait from the History Room at Baker Library disappeared on Dec 11.
The Hanover Police and Safety and Security take extra precautions during the periods of time when students are absent from campus and do not reduce numbers simply because students are gone, according to O'Connor.
