SABATTUS – A rash of mailbox smashing broke out in town early this week.

“I would suspect kids are doing it,” said police Officer Gilbert R. Turcotte. He believed three to four teenagers traveling in one car began bashing boxes in Lewiston on No Name Pond Road before their vandalism spree spilled over into Sabattus late Sunday night and Monday morning onto Bowdoinham Road, Sutherland Pond Road and Birchwood Drive.

The vandals damaged a total of seven mailboxes, causing approximately $175 in damage, he said. Turcotte said it appears a baseball bat was used on some mailboxes while a wooden engineer’s survey stake was used on others.

Mailbox smashing sprees often happen when teenagers get bored, he said. Teens have access to a lake in town for things like swimming and to a lot of woods for exploring nature, Turcotte said. But additions such as more basketball courts and a skateboard park might help keep them more occupied, he said.

Turcotte grew up in Woonsocket, R.I., where he played baseball and basketball in his neighborhood and, with his friends, challenged other groups of kids to games.

“That’s not done here,” he said. “I think the imagination of kids has disappeared.”

When Turcotte and his friends got bored, they might tie sheets between two posts and play volleyball. Or if they did not have a right-fielder for a baseball game, they would make hits to right-field an automatic out thereby making hitters learn how to pull the ball. Or they might have a soap-box derby. “

There’s a lot of creative things they can do to wile away the time,” Turcotte said. And smashing mailboxes is not one of them.

People with any information on the mailbox vandalism can reach police at 375-6952.