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BELLINGHAM – A $250 reward is being offered to anyone who provides information to University Police concerning graffiti vandalism at Western Washington University that leads to successful prosecution or disciplinary action for those involved with the graffiti.

The reward money is being funded by the Paint Shop at Western’s Facilities Management. The university has been experiencing an unprecedented amount of graffiti on its buildings, public areas and Outdoor Sculpture Collection, said Randy Stegmeier, chief of University Police.

Last year alone, graffiti damage cost the university nearly $32,000 and this year is trending nearly as bad.  Over a five-year period the cost will exceed $100,000.

In October, the Associated Students (AS) were also victimized by someone who spray-painted two of the Student Shuttle buses and the shuttle storage shed. The clean-up and repairs cost for this one incident was over $1,300, which came from student transportation fee funds.

“Graffiti is not just unsightly but causes significant expenditures of very scarce funds to clean it up,” said AS President Anna Ellermeier. “That money could be better used to preserve our beautiful campus and cover some of the other escalating maintenance and operations costs we are facing.”

If you have any information about graffiti vandalism, or call University Police at 650-3555 or extension 3555 on campus.

Graffiti such as this costs the university thousands of dollars per year. A $250 reward has been offered for information about those responsible for similar work. Courtesy photos