SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - The owners of the Benedictine University campus in Springfield have dealt with broken windows and stolen property in the last year. Now they are adding graffiti to that list. 

On Thursday night, the library on the property was tagged with spray paint. One of the owners says he has now dealt with $250,000 in damage. 

"There's probably been 50 to 75 broken windows at $250 a piece," said Libri. "You start taking copper off the edge of the building, which is 120 years old and it's $400 a foot to replace that stuff. So it adds up pretty quick."

Libri estimates that the most recent incident will cost $10,000 to fix because of all of the different types of surfaces that were spray-painted. 

Libri and his wife agreed to buy the campus from Benedictine University in August 2021. However, the restoration process has been tricky because of the vandalism. 

"We've had a lot of broken windows, a lot of stolen copper gutters and downspouts and now, tagging," said Libri."So this is really kind of shocking to us that somebody would do this to a building and it's kind of heartbreaking."

The Libris share a love for restoring old buildings. They don't intend to [profit from the campus, but want to create a space where the community can gather. A church and school will be on the campus, but the library building doesn't have any planned use yet. 

"The bad thing is we're trying to get this building ready to sell or to lease out and it makes it a little more difficult to lease if someone thinks they're in a bad neighborhood," said Libri. "So these people don't realize when they tag stuff like this, it really hurts the community."

Libri spends everyday on the campus repairing and restoring different buildings. He says he doesn't like asking for help or donations, but hopes more people in the community will get involved in the project. 

The Springfield Police Department and Crime Stoppers are investigating the vandalism. If you have any information, please contact Crime Stoppers. 

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