Vandals strike at California’s Yosemite National Park. What kind of damage did they do?
Rangers at Yosemite National Park hope the public can help them find people who used spray paint to tag rocks along a popular hiking trail to the top of Yosemite Falls last month.
Vandals sprayed graffiti in both blue and white paint at several locations along the Yosemite Falls Trail. Park visitors reported the tagging after 8 p.m. on May 20 and reported it to rangers, who set up a trail block to try to identify potential suspects.
THE LATEST: Possible charges the vandals face and how the cleanup is going
The following day, rangers discovered that the taggers had struck about 30 different points along the trail. Most of the tags were about 3 feet square, but some covered areas as large as 8 feet by 8 feet, rangers reported.
Yosemite National Park is one of the most visited sites in the National Park Service system, attracting more than 3.3 million visitors in 2021.
After the park posted about the incident on Sunday on its social media channels, public reaction to the attack was sadness and outrage. “This absolutely breaks my heart,” replied one user on Twitter. “One of the most beautiful places on this planet and the deeds of a few are going to end up ruining it for all.”
“I hope they are caught and are made to scrub the public restrooms in Yosemite for 10 years (without gloves and with their own toothbrushes),” a Facebook commenter responded.
Rangers with the National Park Service’s Investigative Services Branch are asking anyone hiking the trail to the top of Yosemite Falls between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. on May 20 and saw anyone carrying spray paint, tagging rocks or may have photos or video to leave a tip online at go.nps.gov/SubmitATip, email nps_isb@nps.gov, or call or send a text message to 888-653-0009.
