Glen Rock High Panther Statue Destroyed, Police Investigating

GLEN ROCK, NJ — Glen Rock High School celebrated the graduating class of 2021 during a Thursday ceremony, but vandals struck shortly after, destroying a large panther statue and causing other damage early Friday morning.

School security reported that chairs left on the field after the ceremony were knocked over and planters were destroyed around 7:30 a.m. on Friday, police said. In addition to that damage, which can be seen in a video obtained by Patch below, a panther statue was also stolen.

According to Principal Michael Parent, the statue was returned to campus "after a gracious parent put out the call for a return of the statue." However, police and Parent both report that the statue was destroyed.

Parent, in a letter, said that "quite a few community members and students have informed us that this disgraceful act was committed by our own students."

View the damage below:

Glen Rock police said this wasn't the only disruption potentially caused by juveniles in Glen Rock during the early morning on Friday.

Officers came across numerous large groups starting at 3 a.m. "through daybreak", including groups as large as 100 people.

When a group gathered on train tracks in the area, police had to get assistance from NJ Transit to stop train traffic on the Bergen County line, police said.

"Juveniles were dispersed from the various areas that they were gathering in if circumstances permitted the three officers on duty to do so," the department said.

Parent hopes that those who committed the acts of vandalism will come forward, but police have also announced that they're investigating after "several concerned citizens" contacted the detective bureau with information.

Keep up to date with what's happening in your community by subscribing to your local Patch newsletter here.