Someone keeps vandalizing and stealing from the Recyclery, a low-budget nonprofit that gives away bicycles and teaches people how to build and maintain them.

Since last May, the Recyclery has reported losses of nearly 30 used bicycles and supplies valued at almost $900. It’s also had $1,300 in damage.

Most recently, someone broke into the ramshackle complex on Old Pittsboro Road and scattered tools all over the grounds. Before that, someone spray-painted graffiti on the buildings and damaged a solar-power unit.

“It’s probably teenagers,” said Recyclery director Chris Richmond, “but they’re making a mess of the place.”

Richmond wants to meet the vandals, whether it’s in court or in the community. If it comes to that, he wants a judge to impose community service, so the Recyclery can enlist them to paint a mural to replace their graffiti tags such as “Kaos,” “Stoic” and “Skunk.”

“[We’re trying to] get them engaged instead of just being vengeful on them,” he said. “I have a faith that if you talk about something like this with enough people that word gets around. It’s not that big a community.”

Richmond even has an artist friend willing to teach the vandals some graffiti-art techniques; he’s not too impressed with the tagging.

“Some of them are just hard to make out exactly what the letters are,” Richmond said. “These guys really need a lesson in creative stenciling.”

This sort of justice would fit with the Recyclery’s philosophy of empowerment. They teach people to repair their own bicycles.

“We don’t charge money for our bikes. We ask people to spend time learning the mechanics,” Richmond said.

The Recyclery is open from noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays for a free workshop session and from 6 to 8 p.m. on Mondays for a mechanics class.

“I wish I could talk to whoever’s doing this and just convince them to come on Sunday,” said Richmond. “I think that would alleviate a lot of our problems.”

Contact staff writer Jesse James DeConto at 932-8760 or jesse.deconto@nando.com.