Saturday night marked the second time the historic Waverley mansion has been vandalized in the past few months.
Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott said sheriff’s deputies were called to the mansion around 9 p.m. and found the front door to the home kicked in. Nothing was taken.
“They just kicked the front door open. The alarm went off, and they ran,” he said.
Scott said there were two cars seen speeding away from the scene before deputies arrived. He said there are no suspects identified at this time.
Melanie Snow, daughter of the mansion’s owner, said this is the second time in three months someone has “rammed in” the front door that survived the Civil War.
“We suspect that it’s kids doing it on a dare,” she said. “It’s such a frightening thing. It’s got dad totally unnerved.”
Snow’s 91-year-old father, Robert Snow, bought the mansion in 1962 and restored it. The home was built in 1852 and is a national historic landmark.
Snow said the first time the door was kicked in, it was repaired. The door will be put in storage, she said, and a new, custom-built one should be installed within the next week.
She said tours will continue daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Scott said the sheriff’s office receives several calls a year from that area because it’s a popular spot for loitering.
“We’ve had problems in the past with youngsters coming out there and hanging out,” he said. “It’s just typically folks out there messing around — typically vandalism.”
Snow said there is an iron gate that is locked at night, but people climb it or go around it.
She said extra security measures have been added since the latest incident.
“I just hope we can stop these kids before they go to heaven or prison,” she said.
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