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MAGNA — Members of the Magna community are tired of vandals leaving their mark throughout the city. Combating the crime, some residents have been implementing creative solutions to stop the unwanted artwork.
Driving along 3500 South in Magna, you will notice a lot of new stores — but you'll also notice a lot of tagging.
“We would like to know who's doing it and get it stopped,” Patty Earl, owner of Old & New Consignment, said. “I've counted 20 times this has happened.”
Earl said the vandalism not only gives Magna a bad look, but is bad for business.
“It lowers our area out here as being (crime-ridden)... and a dumpy looking area,” Earl said.
But one group has vowed to solve the issue.
“It’s awful to be driving anywhere in our community and see patches of different colors of paint everywhere you look,” said Kelley Peterson, president of Magna Community Watch.
“We don't want that image in our community. We want to be better than that,” Peterson said.
Recently, a member of the group came up with an idea to help catch the vandal: Group members are pledging donations to offer a citizen’s reward.
“We're hoping that whoever is involved in this will turn this person in, and maybe earn a little cash,” Peterson said.
The people who live in the area said Magna is a great place to be and they're willing to contribute any amount of money to protect the esthetic of the place they call home.
“We have a great community of law-abiding citizens that want to take back their community," Peterson said.
The Magna Community Watch group has meetings twice a month, which are open to the public. They discuss ways to curb crime in the township.
For more information on the times and locations of the meetings, visit the Magna Community Watch Facebook page.
