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MOAB — Arches National Park is seeking the public’s help in finding who is responsible for vandalizing one of the park’s rocks with graffiti.
The park staff recently discovered new graffiti at Frame Arch, just off the trail to Delicate Arch.
“Graffiti — marking, scratching, chalking, and carving on rocks — is unsightly and illegal,” said the park’s statement on the vandalism via the park’s Facebook page. “It damages the rocks and ruins other people's experience in this natural place.” The park said staff just recently discovered the graffiti.
The vandalism was "expansive," according to Arches National Park Superintendent Kate Cannon.
"It must have taken a long time," Cannon said. "It may have been (done by) a couple of different people. It’s a very deeply etched piece of graffiti."
Names etched on the rock at Frame Arch include "Staten" and "Andersen," according to a Facebook post by the park. Cannon said she hopes someone will come forward to ensure those who made the graffiti are held responsible.
"It's destructive and it … mars the experience of those who come to enjoy the place in its natural state," she said.
Park rangers and volunteer groups spend hundreds of hours every year removing graffiti from the park, the park's statement mentions as well.
Recently, other national protected areas — including Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and Manti-La Sal National Forest — have been vandalized with graffiti.
Cannon added graffiti is a growing concern at Arches National Park.
"We’ve seen an explosion of graffiti over the last several years," Cannon said. "We’re constantly working to remove it. It’s gotten so huge. It gets huge because it becomes accepted in the public mind."
Arches is asking the public if they saw anyone carving or writing on the rock on Delicate Arch trial to contact the park at 435-719-2100.
Contributing: Ben Lockhart
