Lego Star Wars Collection Smashed By Vandals, Community Rallies

SAN CLEMENTE, CA -In late November, teacher Jenna Bassett, 72, was called to the library and into a nightmare. The extensive Lego collection of Star Wars sets donated to the Concordia Elementary School had been smashed to bits.

Gone were the X-wing fighters, the Death Star, the Millennium Falcon. Some plastic pieces rendered to shards. According to Orange County Sheriff's Department, books and a computer were also wrecked.

"I just kept saying, 'No! No! No!' I was in total shock," Bassett told the OC Register in a recent interview. “To whoever did it, I want to say, ‘Did you throw it across the room? Did you kick it like a football? Or, did you take books and throw it at it?’ I kinda want to get into their minds. Did they do it forcefully with anger or were they just messing off? If any good comes from this, maybe they’ll get help so they don’t end up breaking into someone’s house and do (something worse).”

To her, they weren't just Lego sets. They were memories.

The elementary school teacher's son, Coby Bassett, painstakingly constructed each set over 30 years ago, she said. Bassett, sharing her son's love of Legos, has hosted a Lego club at the school for ten years.

There are as of yet no leads in who vandalized the school, and as far as the OCSD reported, no motive.

According to the Register, Bassett attempted to generate some love from the Lego corporate offices, which was met with minimal response.

Meanwhile, support is rallying as parents and families are gathering to organize Legos and possibly rebuild some of the sets, picking up the pieces in a show of community spirit.

Photo, courtesy Paige Austin, Patch Staff