A vandal caused about $700 in damage to a third-floor state Capitol bathroom last Wednesday, according to reports from the state Patrol and the Department of Personnel and Administration, whose employees repaired the damage.

The bathroom on the third floor is the only one in the building designated solely for “baby care.” It holds a changing table and is also used by breastfeeding mothers. It is open to the public.

Trooper Josh Lewis, a public information officer with the Colorado State Patrol, said his unit received a call at 8:15 p.m. on March 16 about the bathroom.

The bathroom door, which can only be locked from the inside, was found locked.

Once inside, authorities discovered that door-closing hardware had been ripped from the door, the ceiling grid system and ceiling tiles were pulled down, support wires broke under the stress, and the sink was filled and clogged with debris, according to DPA’s Adrian Schulte. The ceiling tiles and grid cost about $600 to repair, and the door hardware approximately $100, Schulte said.

The biggest question about the damage, however, was what happened to the person who caused it. Since the door was found locked, it’s possible that the person went into the ceiling – one source said a ladder was used to get to the ceiling, which is at least eight feet above the changing table and sink – and found some other way out. The state patrol had no information on who caused the damage, including whether it was a man or woman.

Most of the people in the building at that hour were members of the House Health & Insurance Committee and those who signed up to testify on House Bill 1064, a bill to ban the sale of flavored tobacco.

It’s not the first odd occurrence that’s taken place this year. Three weeks earlier, an envelope with two checks made out to the Senate Majority Fund was found in a men’s bathroom in the basement. Those associated with the fund told Colorado Politics they would decline to retrieve those checks, which were dated 2021.

Editor’s note: a previous version incorrectly said a different committee was meeting the night of the vandalism.