A vandal who has left graffiti on 10 national parks in the western United States has aroused the ire of the Internet community, which is coming together to stop the desecration.
In a press release, the National Park Service did not give details of the graffiti because the case is under investigation, but said that the organization takes “the issue of vandalism seriously.”
"National parks exist to preserve and protect our nation's natural, cultural and historic heritage for both current and future generations,” the release said. “Vandalism is a violation of the law and it also damages and sometimes destroys often irreplaceable treasures that belong to all Americans."
But with the Internet on the case, many began to put information together, and
one on Calipidder wrote in detail about a woman who was apparently traveling through western national parks and posted photos of the artwork she was leaving at various sites.
The blogger, Rebecca Sowards-Emmerd, was able to grab some of those photos and repost them before the individual made her Tumblr account private. She said the original intent of her post was to bring the vandalism to the attention of authorities. Sowards-Emmerd also posted a comment from the person's website that indicated she had used acrylic paint and in which she said, “I know. I'm a bad person.”
“In my mind, there are two things that lead to people defacing public lands: ignorance and narcissism. After seeing that comment, this person clearly falls into the second bucket,” the blogger wrote. “The question is, how do we turn this into an opportunity to educate the ignorant and (frankly) embarrass the narcissists? I doubt this is the exposure the ‘artist’ was looking for. There’s no going viral with these ‘beautiful’ images, they’re going viral as an arrogant vandal who is a mediocre artist at best.”
The challenge to identify the vandal was picked up by redditors and on other sites, as well.
In an update, Sowards-Emmerd wrote, "
The Tumblr is back up with plenty of statements that indicate zero remorse or regret for what she has done. Maybe the work of a hacker, maybe not."
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