Island sees sudden spike in graffiti

Just when Hilton Head Island thought it had turned the corner on graffiti, the town has begun dealing with more spray-painted walls that began appearing a few weeks ago.

There have been few such incidents in recent months, said Tripp Ritchie, the town's facilities manager. But spray-painted writing has appeared on at least five buildings in the past two weeks.

"It's episodic; it seems to go in spurts," said Ritchie, who credited a quick-response cleanup policy implemented earlier this year with deterring would-be taggers and graffiti artists.

About nine areas of the island were hit with a wave of graffiti in late April and early May. Before the writing appeared last spring, the town had adopted a quick-response policy of covering it up within 24 hours of receiving a report. Last spring was the first time the town implemented the policy, Ritchie said.

In the latest wave, writing was discovered at the restrooms at Chaplin Community Park about two weeks ago. Maintained by the county, the building had not been cleaned up as of this week because a Beaufort County contractor had not determined the best way to remove the writing from the porous, rocky walls, county spokeswoman Suzanne Larson said.

The words "Puppet" and "EWF" appear on the outside walls of the bathroom. The same words appeared underneath the Cross Island Bridge in May. A fence on Marshland Road near Julia Drive has long remained marked with similar writing.

Ritchie said the town discovered different types of tags at Shelter Cove Community Park on Monday but removed them within 24 hours.

Deputies with the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office have noted graffiti recently at:

The Island Recreation Center, 20 Wilborn Road, on Nov. 26. Center director Frank Soule said this kind of vandalism is infrequent at the facility and is expected to cost about $500 to remove with a pressure washer. Words included "joker."

The Chimney Cove apartments laundry room, 837 William Hilton Parkway, on Nov. 18, where the writings included "EWF" and "Devils."

Sheriff's Office Lt. Steve Mendoza, who supervises the county's school resource officers, has reviewed some of the graffiti and says the Sheriff's Office had not linked it to any group, organization or individual.

"All graffiti is not gang-related, set-related or clique-related," Mendoza said. "Some kids just tag."

People who notice graffiti should report it so deputies can record it, he said. Like the town's quick-response plan, the next important step is to remove the writing to deter others from adding to it. Graffiti will attract more graffiti if left alone, Mendoza said.

Anybody caught writing graffiti can be charged with malicious injury to property, a felony if the damage totals more than $1,000 and a misdemeanor for amounts of $1,000 or less.

Because some of the recent writing on town property was in Spanish, Ritchie forwarded pictures to Latin American Council of South Carolina executive director Luís Bell, who said he could not decipher it. Bell said he offered to have volunteers help clean up the vandalism only to learn the town had taken care of it.

The local nonprofit had discussed ways of telling the Spanish-speaking community not to do the graffiti and to be on the lookout for those who do, according to Bell, though the council had not chosen the channels through which it could convey the message.