Once again, we've had several mailboxes knocked down by vandals. Sometime overnight between Sunday, April 6 and Monday, April 7, 5 boxes were completely knocked off their posts on Autumn Glory Way. Another box was partially damaged on Cross Meadow Place, and another box on Autumn Glory (one of the green boxes for the Brookfield homes) seems to have been damaged, though it's not clear if either of those were due to the same vandals as the 5 with significant damage.

This is not the first time this has happened -- counting this occurrence, I've personally had my mailbox knocked off two times (and nearly knocked off another time). After the first two problems, I very securely screwed on the white "flyer box" that the mailbox proper sits on, but it didn't seem to help. There's a footprint from somebody's sneaker on the side of my mailbox where they kicked it really hard, and though the screws held, the wood itself broke, snapping in half right along the grain. So this time around I have to actually rebuild rather than simply repair. :(

We had another mass vandalism of mailboxes back in (if memory serves) November 2007, and we've had one or two knocked off occasionally for years, sometimes accidentally sometimes by vandals.

The Board decided in May 2007 that replacement mailboxes must match the pre-existing mailbox. So replacing a mailbox with one of the fancy all-plastic units from Lowes, or anything that doesn't look "substantially similar" to the original unit is prohibited. For those two houses with non-standard mailboxes (original homes that the neighborhood was build around) the Board asks that replacements match their neighbors' mailboxes (the white Edgemoore style).

The "Official" Edgemoore mailbox can be purchased from Mailboxes Plus of Virginia, on Compton Road in Centreville, 703-815-4777. [Unfortunately, I can't see their product list at the moment, but I believe it's style MP38.]

We've seen other vandalism recently in the neighborhood. After repeatedly losing track of the issue, the Board finally got the sign on the entrance monument repaired (after a homeowner found one of the missing letters in his son's room -- he'd apparently found it while playing one day and just picked it up and forgot about it). Unfortunately, less than a month after it was glued back on the sign, many of the other letters were knocked off or broken.

And there's a long-standing problem with vandalism at the Gazebo, with extensive graffiti and serious physical damage.

Anyone who has any information on these or other incidents of vandalism within the community is urged to contact the Board, or better, Fairfax County Police.

Additionally, we urge anyone with an interest in helping to repair or replace such damage to attend the public meetings or to come to a Board meeting. We currently have three openings on the Board (one vacancy and two re-electable slots) and welcome anyone who's interested in serving on the Board. Again, contact the Board or come to the meetings if you're interested.