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SANDY — Officials at Alta High School spent Friday cleaning up graffiti after vandals tagged areas around the school, mostly near the football field.
Although school officials and police were still looking for suspects, the vandalism — believed to have occurred between Thursday night and Friday morning — comes on the eve of the first ever football game between Alta and Corner Canyon high schools. The schools are considered natural rivals because many of the students who currently attend Corner Canyon, which opened in 2013, used to go to Alta.
Graffiti, including some vulgarities, was spray painted on sheds outside the stadium, on the walls surrounding the bleachers and the walkways leading to the football field. On the pavement leading to the visitor's side, the words "Follow Winners Way" were painted.
Likewise, graffiti was also found at Corner Canyon High School Friday morning, but to a lesser extent.
Canyons School District spokeswoman Jennifer Toomer Cook said there have been games in other sports between the two schools all week without any problems. She called the graffiti an "isolated" incident that neither school will tolerate.
"Our students don't tolerate it either," she said.
She noted that students from both schools had joined forces all week to use the energy from the rivalry week to host a drive for the Utah Food Bank. The amount of food collected will be announced at halftime at Friday's game.
The graffiti at both schools was cleaned up quickly, Cook said.
At Skyline High School there was similar vandalism overnight. Granite School District spokesman Ben Horsley said Friday is the rivalry football game between Skyline and Olympus high schools.
Graffiti was painted on the sidewalk in front of the Skyline student section. The press box was also tagged with a message that essentially said, "Go Titans," according to Horsely.
Unified police were working with the principals and both those schools to find those responsible. Horsley said officers were already working on leads.
The cleaning bill to remove the graffiti cost several thousand dollars, he said. Those responsible could face class A misdemeanor charges.
Contributing: Geoff Liesik
