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Snow Canyon State Park vandalism was ‘premeditated effort’

Posted at 10:18 AM, Nov 04, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-04 12:23:31-04

WASHINGTON COUNTY – Volunteers found a suprising act of vandalism amid the white Navajo sandstone of Snow Canyon State Park.

According to our media partner St. George News, a person or persons hiked over a mile into the park from the White Rock trailhead and into a remote area where they spray-painted the rock.

Kristen Comella, Snow Canyon’s park manager, said the graffiti was discovered a few weeks ago by a volunteer trail steward who took photos and shared them with park staff.

Authorities are unclear on the meaning of the colors, names or numbers but, St. George News reports, they believe they could be tied to school colors or contain other identifying information.

“In this instance, spray paint is one of the hardest acts of vandalism to remove,” Comella said. “Depending on the type of rock that it’s on, it can be very challenging to remove that substance from the rock without doing additional damage.”

Another surprising aspect of the incident is staff says it appears to be a premeditated act. Comella told St. George News that usually these acts of vandalism are done when an opportunity arises or someone happens to have a knife on hand and carves into the rock or does little more.

“That definitely takes planning and premeditated effort, which isn’t typically what we see,” Comella said.

Anyone with information concerning this incident is encouraged to contact the park at 435-628-2255 or through e-mail at snowcanyon@utah.gov.

According to St. Goerge News, Penalties for defacing land within a state park can include possible fines and being made to participate in cleanup efforts.

You can find the full original article by St. George News here.