Urinal torn from wall at Woodland boat launch restroom

LONGVIEW — An unknown vandal broke a urinal out of the wall of a small public restroom at the Martin Access Site boat launch near Woodland sometime this weekend.

The single-occupancy restroom, located at the end of South Pekin Road next to the Lewis River, is temporarily closed while crews clean and assess the damage, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Ben Anderson said Monday. The property is managed by WDFW.

A Cowlitz 911 dispatch caller who discovered the damage Sunday morning told officials that it looked like the vandals “used some kind of explosive to blow the urinal off the wall.” The caller said the bathroom was intact the day before.

WDFW doesn’t yet know for sure how the urinal was broken off the wall, but Anderson said the 911 caller’s theory is a possibility because similar incidents have happened across the state.

“It would not be without precedent for somebody to use a firework or explosive device … in the facilities,” Anderson said. “It’s happened before.”

Wildlife officials, who oversee the property, are still estimating the damage to the site from where the urinal was sundered apart.

As to why someone would want to vandalize it: “I couldn’t tell you,” Anderson said. “We’ve been seeing a lot of increased use at our access sites this summer,” he said, “(so) it’s just unfortunate.”

Anderson asked that anyone enjoying the outdoors respect and share public facilities and lands with their fellow recreators.