'Unique' petroglyphs vandalized at popular central Utah site, feds say

An image of the vandalized petroglyphs at the Buckhorn Draw Pictograph Panel within the the San Rafael Swell. Bureau of Land Management officials said the damage was discovered on Jan. 17.

An image of the vandalized petroglyphs at the Buckhorn Draw Pictograph Panel within the the San Rafael Swell. Bureau of Land Management officials said the damage was discovered on Jan. 17. (Bureau of Land Management)


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KEY TAKEAWAYS
  • Federal land managers are investigating vandalism of prehistoric petroglyphs.
  • The petroglyphs were found to be defaced last month at a popular site in central Utah.
  • Authorities are asking for the public's help as they investigate the case and seek to prevent future cases.

GREEN RIVER, Emery County — Federal land managers say they're seeking the public's help as they investigate prehistoric petroglyphs that were recently defaced at a popular central Utah recreation area.

Bureau of Land Management officials said Monday that the vandalism was discovered on Jan. 17 at the Buckhorn Draw Pictograph Panel within the San Rafael Swell northwest of Green River. They said someone crossed a fenced-off area and carved "Silvia P." into the panel, over a section of four petroglyphs depicting bighorn sheep Indigenous Americans carved up to 3,000 years ago, causing "permanent damage" to the archaeological site.

In a statement, Nicholas Lafazio, manager of the Bureau of Land Management's Price field office, said the damaged petroglyphs are part of a larger "unique" panel with a mix of petroglyphs and pictographs that attracts visitors from all over the world.

The Utah Geological Survey notes that there is also a three-toed dinosaur footprint in the area. It's also by the Old Spanish Trail, a major historic trading route developed by Spanish explorers beginning in the late 1700s. All of its artifacts are protected by the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979.

"We all share a responsibility to protect and preserve our public lands. Vandalizing archaeological sites erases the stories of our past and denies future generations the experience of viewing our great nation's history in person," Lafazio said. "It is critical that we work together as a community to prevent these destructive acts."

Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact the bureau's Price field office either by calling 435-636-3600 or emailing MLMorningstar@blm.gov.

Bureau officials and other experts said in December that they have long dealt with cases of land vandalism involving petroglyphs, which are difficult to track because there are only a handful of officers who oversee millions of acres of public land across the state.

They and state officials have turned to education to help prevent new cases. Autumn Gillard, cultural resource manager for the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, explained at the time that petroglyphs and pictographs have deep spiritual meaning for Indigenous tribe members because they help connect them to their ancestors.

"The bottom line is that this is disrespectful to the tribal people of Utah," she said, of the rising number of vandalism cases. "If you are an individual who is going to go outdoors and interact with outdoor spaces, you should be educating yourself about all aspects of that outdoor engagement."

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The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Carter Williams is a reporter for KSL.com. He covers Salt Lake City, statewide transportation issues, outdoors, the environment and weather. He is a graduate of Southern Utah University.
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