Police in Arlington, Virginia are dealing with a crappy situation at a local kids park.stinkysurprise

“To defecate outside is one thing, but then in a kids park where kids can easily fall into it, that really shocks me,” said parent Rashon Rogers, who found a pile of human poop recently at Ft. Barnard Park.

WJLA reports parents at the South Arlington park have repeatedly discovered human waste stashed under shirts or other clothing. At least five times in the last month kids have discovered the nasty surprise when they move the clothing, police told the news site.

“Who could be sick enough to … do something like that?” parent Andy Delafield said. “It’s absolutely disgusting.”

“I have three kids, one is a cancer survivor, and if you run into something like that and put your hands in it, oh my gosh gross,” he said.

Another resident fed up with the situation wrote in to ARLnow to raise awareness about the issue.

“I live on S. Pollard Street, and for the fourth time in less than a year and second time in less than two weeks, someone has defecated on the playground at Ft. Barnard Park at the corner of S. Pollard and Walter Reed Drive,” the resident wrote.

“They poop around the play equipment, not off to the side or in the bushes, and cover the feces with a shirt so that some unsuspecting child or parent can pick it up and get a fecal surprise. Parks & Rec comes to scoop it up and leaves smears; this morning it was tracked all over the playground by what I can only assume was a small child. Obviously we need some kind of patrol or enforcement or at the least, awareness of this disgusting person and the health hazard he or she is inflicting on our playground.”

Arlington County Police told the news site they were alerted to the serial pooper last week.

“The Emergency Communication Center received a call today reporting defecation at Ft. Barnard Park,” spokeswoman Ashley Savage told ARLnow Aug. 19. “This is the first call for service we’ve received regarding this issue at that location. The District Team in the area has been notified and extra checks will be conducted.”

The public pooping is against the law, and the culprit could face a misdemeanor charge, if authorities can catch the person responsible, WTKR reports.

Thus far the crappy culprit has evaded police, who believe the devious defecations are occurring under the cover of night.

Arlington Department of Parks and Recreation spokeswoman Susan Kalish told ARLnow officials are “aware of the issue” and are working to keep the playground sanitized after each episode.

“We are working to find a solution to the problem,” Kalish said. “We regularly inspect the park and clean up as needed. If it is placed on natural surfaces, such as grass or mulch, we just pick it up. If it is placed on hard surfaces we pick it up as well as use a disinfectant in the area.”