The Vineyard Haven waterfront is on edge after a string of incidents that have seen commercial scalloping boats and equipment deliberately disabled.

Fire Chief John Schilling brought the matter to the attention of the board of selectmen on Tuesday.

“There’s been a rash of vandalism that’s been occurring on the Lagoon amongst the commercial scallop fleet,” he said. “It’s not something that’s been widely talked about in official circles . . . Commercial scallopers are showing up in the morning to hit the pond and finding that their fuel lines have been cut, drag lines cut, boat motors have been disabled and it’s starting to increase in occurrence.”

Mr. Schilling said that the incidents, which had taken place in and around Maciel Marine, had been reported to the police, but on Wednesday Tisbury police detective Mark Santon said that wasn’t the case.

“I’ve gone through the reports and nobody’s reported anything to the police,” he said. “It’s not uncommon for a little infighting with the shellfishermen, so I don’t know who the actual people being vandalized are, or who, if anybody, is actually being accused of it.”

Mr. Schilling said that, unofficially, he had heard of about three to four incidents.

On Wednesday Tisbury shellfish constable Danielle Ewart said that the reports were a concern to her department.

“Yes, I’ve been hearing about it and I’ve just been taking it all in,” she said. “I haven’t seen anything but I’m not down there after dark.”

On Tuesday Tisbury selectmen said that they were previously unaware of the problem but selectman Tristan Israel vowed to take action.

“We can ask the chief to make sure that a patrolman down there is a high priority,” he said.

Also at Tuesday’s selectmen’s meeting selectmen approved a list of change orders to the troubled Emergency Services Facility building that topped $72,000.

“We’ve had our problems but budget-wise we’re in good shape,” insisted Mr. Israel after the meeting.

Building chairman Joe Tierney said that the money would come from funds left over from the building’s sewering system, which was $97,000 under budget.

“We also have $300,000 left in a contingency fund, so we’re doing good,” said Mr. Israel.

Included in the change orders were charges for work on the building’s geothermal system, motion sensors, lights, flashing, electrical system, generator, linoleum, epoxy, trees and guardrails, as well as money to raise a manhole cover that was paved over.

The $7.38 million project was expected to be completed in July 2011 before a consultant’s report prepared for the town last spring identified numerous structural problems, including a misaligned foundation, buckled steel supports and drainage issues.

In October selectmen voted to assess general contractor Seaver Construction of Woburn $18,162.50 for damages and delays in the project.