A small town in Benton County is dealing with a big issue.
Folks living in Gateway say they love their small town and do not want anyone coming in and causing problems.
"Gateway's a nice little town...It's a good place to live," said Gateway Mayor David White.
With a population of 496, Gateway can easily be missed on a map, but Mayor White says they have been dealing with some big-city issues.
"Anything that was worth value, that was value at all, they, they took."
White says City Hall and the Water Department have been burglarized and the culprits kicked in the front door to get the goods.
"They took our brand new computer, not out of the box even...From there, they just went on through the whole, the whole building."
Just across the street, Gateway's City Park public restrooms are getting trashed with broken toilets and all.
"This was on a Sunday, we fixed them, Monday night they vandalized them both again."
Mayor White says it would cost almost $2,000 to install surveillance cameras.
"The money that we would spend on those cameras, we could put up picnic tables out there, barbecue pits...But I've got to fix the bathrooms and the security out there."
Gateway resident Sharon Barnett says there are perks to living in a tight-knit community.
"In a small town, everybody know everybody, but it's just hard to catch them in the act doing it."
So their one wish is for the criminals to leave Gateway alone.
"I love this town, I wouldn't move to a big town, I love small towns."
Folks living in Gateway say they love their small town and do not want anyone coming in and causing problems.
"Gateway's a nice little town...It's a good place to live," said Gateway Mayor David White.
With a population of 496, Gateway can easily be missed on a map, but Mayor White says they have been dealing with some big-city issues.
"Anything that was worth value, that was value at all, they, they took."
White says City Hall and the Water Department have been burglarized and the culprits kicked in the front door to get the goods.
"They took our brand new computer, not out of the box even...From there, they just went on through the whole, the whole building."
Just across the street, Gateway's City Park public restrooms are getting trashed with broken toilets and all.
"This was on a Sunday, we fixed them, Monday night they vandalized them both again."
Mayor White says it would cost almost $2,000 to install surveillance cameras.
"The money that we would spend on those cameras, we could put up picnic tables out there, barbecue pits...But I've got to fix the bathrooms and the security out there."
Gateway resident Sharon Barnett says there are perks to living in a tight-knit community.
"In a small town, everybody know everybody, but it's just hard to catch them in the act doing it."
So their one wish is for the criminals to leave Gateway alone.
"I love this town, I wouldn't move to a big town, I love small towns."
