Vandals Dye Water Green At Myriad Gardens For Second Year In A Row

For the second year in a row Myriad Botanical Gardens was forced to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in an unexpected way. Their pond once again was dyed green by vandals.

This year officials at the gardens took extra steps to prevent this from happening, by adding more security to walk around and by keeping the fountain off until after the holiday. But luck was not on their side and pranksters struck again.

The green didn't shine as bright as last year's dye job. This green hue was contained to just the pond.

Many park goers assumed glowing green water part of the celebration, maybe Oklahoma City's take on a Chicago tradition.

“I thought perhaps they were doing that for a reason because of the holiday,” said Linda Lee, park goer.

“It is kind of amusing to turn the water green for St. Pat's, but on the other hand we are a non-profit and we are still going to have to find budget to cover the cost of cleanup,” said Christine Edditngton with Myriad Gardens.

Vaughnellen Miller, 4, said the green water was one of the first things she noticed today.

“I think they are being a little naughty… putting something green in there,” she said.

And Tuesday morning ground crews found the empty dye bag floating in the water left behind by vandals.

Myriad Gardens said Tuesday morning the ducks appeared to be afraid of the green water and wouldn't get in until later in the day. However, we know the copper-based dye is not harmful to wildlife.

“We understand that it's all in good fun, but it does come with a bit of a cost to us as a nonprofit. And it is vandalism,” Eddington said.

Last year's cleanup cost $10,000. This year's bill is about $1,000.