School is back this week after the winter break, but unfortunately students at Parkside Centennial Elementary won't get to enjoy their playground. 

Sometime over the weekend of Dec. 28, the playground was vandalized and the slide completely torn off. 

The slide was already damaged from a prior vandalism incident, explained PAC president Katie Vleeming.

"This particular slide had already been ruined a few months ago and [the school] had it boarded and fenced off so the students didn't get injured. The students love this slide, so they were all very upset when they were no longer able to use it," she told The Star. 

But with the slide now completely torn off, the repair is more of a feat. 

"Now, instead of just needing to replace the bottom piece, we are looking at a larger problem." 

The PAC is working with the Langley School District about how to go about repairing the slide and what the timeline and cost will be. 

"Playground equipment is extremely expensive to replace, but we know how much the kids love it and the PAC is working with the school to try and get ti fixed as quickly as possible," Vleeming said. 

She added that the PAC is also discussing options to prevent this from happening in the future. 

The Star has reached out to the school district for more information. 

The playground was built in 2011, following two gruelling years of fundraising efforts by the PAC to raise $45,000 to cover the cost, which replaced the old gravel playground that had been condemned.