HOUSTON -- Few things are more relaxing than a stroll through a Houston park.  And for Dave and Elena Fleischer, it's doesn't get any better.  

"The grass is nicely trimmed and the trees are well taken care of. It's swept," said Elena Fleischer.

But some of the equipment grounds keepers rely on were recently vandalized and stolen.  There were busted windows, broken ignition switches, and missing gears.  Dozens of lawn mowers, trimmers and edgers were also stolen from the Houston Parks and Recreation Department's Wallisville Road storage facility.

Police said whoever did it, struck during the overnight hours on Tuesday.  A Parks and Recreation employee discovered the damage when he showed up to work the next morning.

"We work so hard to do our jobs here for the city, and somebody breaks in our building and takes our equipment. It just upsets you to no end," said Joe Turner who works as the Park’s Director.

The taxpayers will also suffer as they’ll have to buy $50,000 worth of new equipment.

It's a lot of equipment to lose, but given the time of year, things could have been even worse.  Right now, the lawns are being mowed twice a month, but during peak growing season it's once every ten days.

Surveillance cameras may have caught the criminals in the act.

In the meantime, workers are using back-up gear, which is older and less reliable.

"It's just unfortunate that someone would do this to us.  It's all of us citizens.  It's our equipment," said Turner.