FARMINGTON — George Barker, head of grounds and maintenance for the Farmington Fair, works 51 weeks each year to be ready for fair week in September.

Recent actions by one or more people have frustrated him and added significantly to his workload.

When Barker arrived at the fairgrounds Aug. 1, he found red and blue streaks of paint spread from one end of the Starbird Building to the other. Paint also was sprayed on two sides of the Trinity United Methodist Church Building, inside one corner of the Pulling Ring and on one of the old paddocks in the racing part of the fairgrounds.

The paddock and pulling ring will be fairly easy to repair with a coat of paint, but it will be much more complicated to fix the other buildings. Vinyl siding covers these buildings, and the Starbird Building is 360 feet long.

There may not be time enough to repair it before the Farmington Fair, which starts in just a few weeks. However, plans are in place to repair the damage to the church building because vulgar words deface the front side where customers are served.

The fairgrounds are open during the day but all gates are locked at night. Whoever vandalized the property had to climb over a fence to gain access.

The police are investigating. Anyone with information is asked to contact Farmington Police Officer Darin Gilbert at 778-6311.