One of the chairs of the Friends of Washington Market Park sent me the shot above — a huge swatch of pavers have been dug out from around the gazebo. The pavers are set in dirt and have been there for more than four decades, but are now being purposely removed by children who think this is a fun activity.

She then sent the photo of a mom and three young kids playing with the arrangement under the climbing equipment, below. (I didn’t run the one with people in it since I couldn’t know if they gathered them or just found them there.)

This is just ridiculous, that the parents and caregivers of these kids are allowing them — maybe even helping them — vandalize the park. It is then left to either the Friends or the Parks Department to repair it, and thousands have gone into that already. (Below, a dad and park worker gather the pavers for safekeeping.)

(Full disclosure: I am on the Friends board, but thankfully this problem is left to others.)

“It’s disappointing to see the pavers being pulled up and scattered throughout the park and playground, but what makes it especially hard is watching it happen in plain sight of parents and caregivers who aren’t stepping in,” said Amandalyn Jones from the Friends. “So many people give their time and energy to this park — volunteers, neighbors, and community members — and we owe it to each other to help protect it.”

This has been going on for a while, and at first Friends board members did some DIY fixes, all the while collecting the pavers they found around the park and even on the streets nearby. The Parks Department fixed some in the front of the gazebo.

The park was designed and built in 1980 and has mostly custom features — which is both the joy and the hardship of it now, decades later. Nothing is an easy fix and some elements — like the old-timey pump that was in the water play area — are impractical to replace. But it is also one of the cutest parks in the system.

Friends is hopeful that, together with the Parks Department, they will be able to restore the pavers soon.

“Loose pavers are a real safety concern, and we’d love to work together on a solution before anyone gets hurt,” said Amandalyn.

Let’s hope the whole thing does not get paved over with asphalt out of frustration…