An act of senseless vandalism in Portage la Prairie has the local recreation authority disappointed, and may lead to consequences for local soccer teams. Portage Regional Recreation Authority General Manager David Sattler says on two occasions this week, a vehicle has torn up the soccer fields at Rotary Republic Park. He notes many teams have been chomping at the bit to get out on the fields with rentals starting as early as next week, and they may have to change their plans.

"We're going to see if we can accommodate those users elsewhere. These are annual users who are always itching to get out and enjoy the spring as soon as they can because as we know, summer can be quite short. We're going to have to close these down for a little while here and get them fixed up so they're safe for our users to go out and play again."

While the immediate consequences will see extra work for staff, as well as some changes to the schedule, Sattler says it could impact other aspects of the PRRA's work, adding it's disappointing to see someone intentionally damage the space.

"It's unbelievably frustrating. We put a lot of pride into that park over there. We believe it's one of the best in Manitoba, and we hear this time and time again from anyone who visits from outside of Portage, including Winnipeg. They love to coming to our park. This only moves us further back, and doesn't allow us to move forward. These types of things take away from the money we can spend on continuing to improve the park."

Sattler says they're currently working on filing a report with the RCMP, and asks anyone with information on the incident to contact the PRRA.