Women's Lacrosse Coach Carol A. Kleinfelder found her truck tires slashed in the parking lot of the Gordon Indoor Track and Tennis Center last night.

Kleinfelder, who led her team to the NCAA championship in 1990, said she believes the vandalism came in response to her statements in a recent series of Crimson articles examining the Harvard Department of Athletics.

In the last article, which ran Wednesday, Kleinfelder was among those quoted criticizing the department's treatment of women's teams. "Athletics is seen as a right for men and a privilege for women," she was quoted as saying.

Speaking from Stanley Service on Western Avenue in Boston, where her tires were being patched, Kleinfelder said last night that it is possible, but unlikely, that local teenagers were responsible for the act.

"People are pretty angry [about the series]...It has really caused a lot of problems," she said.

Neither Athletic Director William J. Cleary '54-'56 nor Harvard Police officials could be reached for comment last night.

No other vehicles in the lot were damaged, said Kleinfelder, adding that she had reported the incident to the University Police. She said she had last seen her truck when she parked it in the lot on Sunday.

A manager at Stanley Service, who had examined the tires, said, "They were cut three times each, with an ice pick."

"She'll definitely have to replace the tires," said the manager, who would not give his name.

Dean of the College Archie C. Epps III, who recently joined the Faculty's Standing Committee on Athlet- ics, said that if students were responsible forthe act, "It would certainly be a disciplinarycase."

"I find it very disturbing," Epps said.

Kleinfelder, who has been at Harvard for 15years, said she has no plans to take addedsecurity precautions.

"I'm just going to think about this for awhile," she said. "I'm not afraid, but I'mangry...Nothing like this has ever happened to mebefore.