With its grand opening a week away and finishing touches to be completed this weekend, the 'Aikahi school playground suffered a setback when taggers and paintballers vandalized the park.

Eleven areas in the playground were marred with black writing, and there was evidence of paintball use, said Gay Kong, principal of 'Aikahi Elementary School.

The vandalism was discovered Saturday, but it wasn't the first time the $150,000 project experienced trouble. The weekend before, someone broke into a storage container filled with thousands of dollars worth of borrowed tools and took spray paint cans, Kong said.

The incidents look like the work of youngsters, and police have been notified, she said, calling the vandalism discouraging disregard for people's hard work.

"It's very concerning that you have children out there with that kind of attitude," Kong said.

Most of the tagging consists of first names, she said.

Kong said she did not want to release the names or any other information about the tagging because the school could not determine whether the vandals were putting their names or someone else's on the playground.

"I'm just concerned that one is innocent before being proven guilty, especially if they are young, underage," she said. "And someone else could be trying to get them into trouble."

The new playground replaces a beloved playground that was built by the community and used for 15 years before it was demolished in August 2008 because of its deteriorating condition.

Parents and the community formed the Friends of 'Aikahi Playground and moved swiftly to replace the structure.

Children helped design it. Dozens of individuals, businesses and organizations donated money, food, tools and time to put it all together during one week last month.

Thousands of volunteer hours of construction work were performed by hundreds of community residents and Marines, said Jenny Helman, with the Friends.

"I was really sad and angry," she said. "It's really upsetting that in a course of five to 10 minutes, it's not pristine. It's not being respected."

Helman would like the community to keep an eye out for trouble. People should call 911 or the school at 254-7944, she said.

Workers have attempted to remove the blight, but some spots were more stubborn than others, Helman said.

Organizers for the playground have scheduled a work day for Saturday from 8 a.m. until the work is done, at the playground at 281 Ilihau St., and a grand opening and concert on March 20. Tickets are $10 and are available online at www.aikahiplayground.com; Muddy Waters 'Aikahi; Hungry Ear at 418 Ku'ulei Road in Kailua; and at the door.