The office of the College Republicans at UCSD and the California Review was found vandalized early in the morning of Jan. 16. Police were called to the office located at Student Center Media Lounge at about 12:30 a.m. when California Review Editor in Chief Ryan Darby found the door unlocked.

The office walls were found covered with approximately 75 posters, signs and other materials promoting democratic politicians such as former Gov. Gray Davis and Congresswoman Susan Davis. According to College Republicans Chairman Chris Taylor, other materials found included brochures from organizations, such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, that the club is not known to endorse. Taylor also said pornographic pictures were among the materials posted on the wall. However, the computer equipment in the office was found intact.

According to crime prevention officer Al Jenkins of UCSD Police, the incident was not filed as vandalism because the police found no sustained damages to the office.

“”Somebody had put up posters and pictures and red, white and blue balloons, so it just looks like a prank, and technically, there’s no crime report because nothing was damaged,”” Jenkins said.

According to Taylor, who said he arrived at the scene approximately thirty minutes after Darby, the office’s murals were torn down and all the balloons belonging to the club were inflated and littered on the floor.

“”I was initially angry, but it also looked like a big prank,”” Taylor said. “”Certainly if there was malicious intent, all of our electronic equipment would have been broken.””

According to Taylor, while the police obtained a poster for possible fingerprinting, it is unlikely that they will further investigate the incident.

“”At the moment it doesn’t seem like it’s a very big deal,”” Taylor said. “”But by the decoration and the time spent on this, maybe it’s saying something about how vulnerable our own information is … but I wouldn’t expect anything to actually turn up.””

For Darby, the real concern is on how secure the media lounge is. According to him, various people and organizations have access to the offices in the lounge and there have been previous occurrences of vandalism.

“”We see it as just a harmless prank,”” Darby said. “”The only thing that concerns us is the fact that the school needs to do something to secure the area. There are always a lot of people going in and out.””

[[Ed. Note: Ryan Darby and Chris Taylor are senior staff writers for the Guardian.]