A top city administrator in the Des Moines suburb of Urbandale is dealing with thousands of dollars in water damage to his home. Randy Peterson of the Urbandale Police Department says it’s “clearly” a case of vandalism.

“Absolutely — there’s no accident involved in this,” Peterson says. “In my seven years of being with the Urbandale Police Department, I don’t remember anyone ever doing something like this and causing that much damage.”

Someone ran a garden hose into the home of Urbandale city manager A.J. Johnson. It happened yesterday, sometime between 7:40 in the morning and 5:15 in the afternoon. As for the point of entry into the house, authorities aren’t saying.

“We do know how the water damage took place, with the water hose, but we’re not releasing that at this time,” Peterson says.

Police are offering a cash reward to anyone who calls in a tip that leads to a conviction in this case. Peterson says investigators don’t know if the motive may have been retribution for some sort of city decision.

“We can’t speculate at this point if someone was upset over something that’s going on currently or in the past,” he says. “What we’re trying to do is get anyone from the public’s assistance in trying to identify who did this or what group may have been involved so we can hold them accountable for their actions.”

Carpeting and dry wall in the home will have to be replaced, but a damage estimate is not yet available.