The Kelowna RCMP has identified three people that they are responsible for hundreds of tags to various structures around the city in recent months.
Police say the tag ‘AWKWRD’ has been linked to around 300 tags on various structures through the Kelowna area.
The City of Kelowna says that taggers cost the community over $400,000 per year in clean up and removal costs.
This year has been the busiest to date and staff have had to clean more than 1,500 locations in August and September alone.
Next up is ‘SOJA’, which has been active in the city’s downtown core and linked to over 300 incidents this summer.
“Graffiti impacts our city’s image, deters patronage of commercial areas and negatively impacts real estate investment potential or neighbourhood perception,” said Scott Isfan, community policing coordinator.
“If it’s not immediately removed, graffiti can serve as an invitation to littering, loitering, additional graffiti and other forms of crime and acts of violence.”
Finally, a number of public and private properties throughout Kelowna have been tagged with ‘SOCIAL’ of late.
“These types of crimes are often discounted by the public as nuisance issues,” said Cpl Jocelyn Noseworthy.
“But the reality is this isn’t a victimless crime. Vandalism such as this takes away from the beauty of our city and it encourages other criminal behaviour. “
Anyone with information on these three suspects can contact the Kelowna RCMP at 250-762-3300 or report tips anonymously to Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-222-8477.
Residents can also report graffiti to the City of Kelowna's hotline by calling 250-469-8600 (option six).
In partnership with Crime Stoppers, the City offers a $500 reward for tips that leads to the arrest of a graffiti vandalism.
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