Escalation of the Herndon and South Lakes rivalry resulted in vandalism of South Lakes’ senior wall after this weekend’s Baron Cameron Bowl, which the Seahawks won 10-7.

The students responsible for the vandalism are unknown. The act is one in a series of incidents that plagued both schools over the summer. In late August, Herndon buildings was vandalized, while South Lakes’ turf field was defaced three days later. The latter incident required professional cleaning of the new turf field.

Students from both schools have used Twitter to express their sadness and anger regarding the graffiti, which read ‘H-Town,’ a nickname for rival Herndon.

“It is really demeaning to see our long-awaited names on our senior wall being vandalized,” senior Tyler Liboro said.

The use of Twitter has also rapidly spread rumors regarding the actions that will be taken in response to the vandalism. Some of these rumors include that students need to fundraise in order for the wall to be repainted.

However, Director of Student Activities Mike Astudillo advises students to put those rumors to rest.

“Everyone needs to relax,” Astudillo said. “We will handle this like any other vandalism. We contacted the county to come and remove the graffiti today.”

Astudillo guarantees that the wall will be repainted this year.

“Everyone is frustrated, but we need to rely on Fairfax County to handle this act of vandalism,” Astudillo said. “Students who are starting fundraisers are just wasting their time. Fairfax County will handle getting the wall repainted.”

Astudillo hopes students will not focus on the rumors or getting revenge, but rather move on and rest assured that Fairfax County will handle the situation.