Bucket of paint thrown at City Hall during “occupation” — Philadelphia, PA

An act of vandalism at Philadelphia’s City Hall has everyone on edge at the Occupy Philly movement.

The extent of the damage was limited to an exterior door at City Hall splashed with paint. The glass did not appear to be cracked.

But the protesters are keenly aware that anything that happens at the site is a reflection on their image.

The relative peace and quiet of the protest compound was shattered shortly after 11 a.m. on Friday after the a vandal ran up to the southwest corner of the building and hurled an open one-gallon can of green paint at the glass and metal door.

The lid of the can was found about 50 feet away.

Fox 29 talked exclusively to one of a handful of witnesses.

“The gentleman came over and just chucked a paint bucket right at the door there. It was real rude.” he just acted snooty like, proud, like, ‘yeah, that was- you know, take that,” the witness said.

The vandal ran around the corner with paint from the attack marking his route and, with witnesses giving chase, he grabbed a bike and raced down South Broad Street.

Protester quickly arrived and offered to clean off the door. But they were turned away because it was a crime scene.

The Occupyers know their image can be stained by any act of vandalism or violence.

In fact, the description of the vandal, a black male in his 20s, wearing a black hoodie with a red stripe, black backpack and black sneakers, matches a man police say has been on their radar.

He broke some windows in Center City earlier this week, but was out on bail.

Police know who they’re looking for and it’s a matter of finding him so he can be questioned.

The door has been cleaned up with just a smudge of paint left behind.

But some of these protesters are shaken. Their demonstration is attracting all kinds of folks drawn by the promise of free food and shelter, and not all of those folks share their desire to play by the rules.

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/vandal-hits-occupy-philly-protests-101411