When parents and children arrived at a playground in Swanwick, Hampshire, they found the baked beans smeared on the swings and roundabout resulting in disappointment all around. Even by 2020 standards, this is some very strange news.
Posted via the Facebook group ‘Spotted Swanwick 2’, the post concerning the incident reads:
So today I take my little girl to chaple Street Park, and this is what I found. Baked beans on the swings, the kids roundabout and on the basket ball area. I don’t understand. When we have all been cooped up for a while now, Would have thought people would want to look after parks.
Although the parent on Facebook was clearly upset over the matter, most of the comments section made light of the situation and even shared several puns such as “I wonder who’s bean on that park today” and “At the end of the day we are all humanbeans.” Yes, the situation wasn’t the most ideal, but as long as no one was injured and no serious damage was done, it could have been a lot worse.
There are two confusing aspects of this entire incident: 1) Why did the vandal(s) use baked beans and 2) why a children’s playground.
First, of all the foods one could use in this scenario, baked beans aren’t high on the list. It’s not that ‘funny’ of food people to make people laugh nor a food that’s necessarily easy to use for vandalism. More than likely, the perpetrator(s) used a canned product. If that’s true, this means the can was either opened at the location with something to the effect of a can-opener or it was opened, then brought to the location. Either way, that’s a whole lot of work for not a lot of payoff.
Second, the most basic answer as to the location is simple: just because. Typically, when vandals target something for children, it’s because they’re visualizing those children having a strong reaction to their ‘work’ which is exactly what these types of people want.
Regardless of whether you think it’s horrible or funny, the victims should just be thankful that the vandalism wasn’t much worse. By now, the playground is more than likely cleaned up and everything is back to normal. Hopefully the vandals don’t strike again with more beans.
