PITTSBURGH -- From buildings to bridges to overhead passes, local graffiti artists never seem to be lacking a canvas for their work.

But Thursday night, local officials are vowing to crack down on this unwanted display of artistry.

It's quite obvious, no matter where you look, that Pittsburgh has a graffiti problem.

Graffiti artists, also called taggers, make their mark on buildings, bridges, cars and mailboxes.

City Council President Gene Ricciardi, along with the support of District Attorney Steven Zappala, is proposing a plan to institute a graffiti task force.

Ricciardi said, "This is not art; this is the destruction of property. These are not artists; these are criminals. And I'm going to make it my highest priority to target these individuals."

This task force will bring together manpower, technology and the law.

A special squad of police officers will run surveillance on areas frequently hit with graffiti, computer tracking will be used to keep tabs on the activity and payouts will be offered to informants.

Another thing that could make the graffiti problem even worse is a Web site called myspace.com. The site contains many chat rooms and groups. One of the groups is titled "art crimes and graffiti." And, guess what? It invites taggers to come to Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh resident Jim Balcer said, "It's terrible, but everybody's got the same problem. I don't know what they're going to do. And when they catch them, they don't do much to them, anyway."

That, too, will change under Ricciardi's new plan.

Offenders will not only receive community service, but jail time as well.

Pittsburgh's most famous tagger is "Mook," who spent six months in jail after a four-year spray-painting spree.

He now works in Shadyside as a tattoo artist, earning money to pay back $7,000 in fines that he owes to the city.