Thieves target St. Joseph High School's new turf

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The finishing touches are still being laid down, but the new St. Joseph High School has already been targeted. South Bend police said someone snuck onto the property and actually took some of the football field's artificial turf.



When construction crews returned to work on Monday, they found the numbers two, three, four and five missing. Now, it has everyone asking the question, "Why would anyone still artificial grass?"



Kristine Kowalski is a St. Joseph High School alumni and will be cheering on the football team for more reasons than one. "My brother will be a senior this year," said Kowalski. "He plays football, so he will be the first class to graduate from the new school".



Kowalski is excited about the new school and the new football field. She said having a football field is a big deal for students. It's something she never had when she attended the school and said it was upsetting to hear someone had vandalized the field.



"It's disrespectful, I think. I mean, it’s a Catholic school and I wouldn’t expect people to go to a Catholic school and steal a bunch of stuff, It's sad,"said Kowalski.



She said the fence does not seem all that sturdy and is not sure why anyone would want to jump the unstable chain-linked fence just to steal some artificial grass. "It could be just some rival school trying to play a prank early on, but I don’t know".



This will be the first year the Indians have a football field to call their own and Kowalski hopes that will be motivation enough for the team to make it to state again and win a championship title.