U Facilities Management removed three incidences of graffiti on campus in the past two weeks.
It’s a problem the U does its best to keep under control, said Cory Higgins, associate vice president for Facilities Management.
“We try to get on it immediately, as soon as we find it,” Higgins said. “We’re very aggressive to keep it down, because we believe that’s the best way to keep it from growing.”
Campus police reported graffiti on the rock between the Union and University Campus Store two weeks ago. The graffiti was cleaned up within 24 hours, Higgins said.
Graffiti also showed up on the Union and the sign for the Warnock Engineering Building.
Sgt. Lynn Rohland of campus police said there have been five reported incidents of graffiti since January of this year.
However, Branden Dalley, associate director for operations at the Union, said the number of incidents is much higher because not every tag is reported.
Higgins said that as soon as graffiti is reported to Plant Operations, someone is usually sent out within the day to remove the graffiti. Graffiti is typically removed by a chemical wash, but on more difficult areas, it sometimes requires a sandblaster, he said.
Rohland said the U’s “defensive-as-offensive” approach to graffiti prevention is the best way to deal with it, because catching people in the act of graffiti is difficult.
“We can’t be everywhere at all times,” Rohland said. “The only thing we can do is when people see the graffiti, they need to contact us so we can take a police report, take a photograph of it and have the building managers have it cleaned up.”
Anyone caught in the act of defacing property in Salt Lake County can be charged with a felony if the damages are more than $1,000.
Tyler CobbJoe Weber removes graffiti form the elevator inside the Health Science Parking Center. Plant Operations tries to remove any graffiti found around campus with in a day.