Park rangers revealed that graffiti on a rock in Arizona will cost a national park thousands to fix. Rangers first discovered the graffiti on a butte in Papago Park Preserve in Tempe.
Savannah Harrelson-Driskill, the city's public information officer, confirmed it's not going to be an easy fix. Someone drew a large white asterisk in a circle with a blue background on the rock.
"Due to the graffiti's size, the city is in the process of hiring a contractor to remove the paint over the next week," Harrelson-Driskill said. She said it will likely be "in the thousands (of dollars), rather than the hundreds."
"Vandalism at Papago Park Preserve can often be more costly to remove, as the park is home to several archeological sites and is a protected preserve," Harrelson-Driskill also said. "The city condemns vandalism, especially in protected areas like the preserve."
Graffiti In Nature
She's not the only one either. On Reddit, national park visitors angrily blasted graffiti that they've come across in nature. It's not a cool move to deface the rocks.
One wrote, "Maybe my reaction to this is too strong, but I absolutely hate when people do this kind of narcissistic bullshit out in nature. People writing or carving their names on rocks and trees, trampling native flowers to get a picture, leaving trash everywhere. We picked up too many wrappers and bottles while on the trails in these parks, and the number of cans, bottles, and bags on the roadside in the park were depressing. I know we do this kind of stuff everywhere, but it pisses me off even more when it's in the areas we have made an effort to specifically protect."
Another wrote, "I went hiking in Rocks State Park in MD a few weeks ago, there was an entire tree covered in carved initials, like the entire tree up to a little over 6ft. I know that's not a national park so idk what the rules are, but just like?? Stop marking shit that isn't yours!! Wanna carve into a tree? Go do it in your backyard! I hate it too, I don't think you overreacted. And the influencer part is especially frustrating, I'm SO tired of the influencer nature/hiking boom that's been happening. Please leave nature alone!!"
And another wrote, "We were just on the hike to the Narrows about ten days ago and amongst the awful things we saw were 1. A tissue someone had just shoved into a hollowed tree, 2. A squirrel holding a powdered doughnut someone had fed it, and 3. A teenage boy poking a squirrel with their fancy hiking pole. My husband actually yelled at that last one in his Teacher Voice and the kid stopped, fortunately. It was unbelievable."
