Graffiti Vandals Target Homes, Third Time This Month
COLORADO SPRINGS – The third graffiti incident for one Colorado Springs neighborhood in the last month is frustrating homeowners.
Vandals keep tagging people’s homes near Academy Blvd. and Chelton Rd. Four homes were hit early Thursday morning around 3 am by at least two men wearing black ski masks. One homeowner, awakened by the suspects, said they appeared to be teenagers.
The homeowner who only identified himself as Shaun says he called police but it took them about 15 minutes to arrive. By the time, the vandals had run off. He says the neighborhood could use stakeout units to catch the graffiti vandals because they’re hitting so often.
Homeowners are asked to remove the graffiti within 14 days to comply with city laws or face a fine. One woman says getting a professional to fix the mess this often isn’t something she can afford to do.
“Last time I paid this guy [to remove the graffiti,]” said Linda Jones who’s retired and living on fixed income. “It cost me so much money but I can’t afford to pay him all the time.”
She spent two hours on Thursday removing some of the graffiti from her home but less than half the paint came off. Jones said she’ll work with family this weekend to paint over the graffiti to avoid the fines.
“This never happened before a month ago,” said Jones.
