Breaking into someone else's home is bad enough, and can easily get you killed these days.

Breaking into someone else's home and spray painting furniture, walls, windows, paintings, TV and random other things is much worse.

That's the unfortunate scenario 93 year old Elbert Wood of Houston faced this week when he came home from a doctor's appointment to find graffiti all over the inside of his house.

“I never heard of anything like this before," Wood told KHOU.

If he’d been home when the crooks broke in, Wood said, “I’d have tried to kill ‘em.”

Two of the suspects were caught just down the street with red paint on their hands, spray can caps in their pockets and stuff stolen from Wood’s home. One teen admitted to breaking into the house, but claims he didn’t vandalize it.

“What can I say? I didn’t spray paint his house," he said.

The two responsible are just 13 and 16 years old.

While that part of the ordeal obviously sucks for Wood, the outpouring of support from his community has been epic.

Wood lost his wife of 57 years back in December, but as he learned on Tuesday, he’s not alone. Forty marines and an army of contractors showed up at his house to help with repairs.

Wood is also receiving new furnishings from Gallery Furniture.

Much of Tuesday’s effort was coordinated by radio host Michael Berry, who doesn’t mince words when it comes to the two juveniles believed to be responsible for the vandalism.

“We were all young and stupid once, but how could you do that,” said Barry. “More than angry at them; I feel frustration for him. He deserves better than this.”

Wood was wounded twice in the war and still has shrapnel in one leg. The first time, he was shot and hospitalized for a year. The extent of his injuries earned him a Purple Heart, but that didn't stop the Marine from serving another tour of duty overseas.

Wood, who raised four kids of his own in the house, is now ready to dish out some very old school discipline.

“I’d tried to spank them as hard as I could.”

The veteran still managed to have a sense of humor about the crooks.

“They redecorated for me," he said.




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