DAVID HARDEN/Arizona Daily Wildcat Facilities management employee Jose Solis washes spray paint off a wall outside of the Kuiper Space Sciences building yesterday. The university has already spent more than $110,000 on cleaning vandalism this year, but officials say they are unable to clean up everything.

Money not always available to clean graffiti

As the yearly tab for cleaning defaced property rises above $113,000, money for repairing most cosmetic damages to campus is hard to come by.

Yesterday, facilities management workers were still cleaning up the work of vandals who blanketed the campus over the Martin Luther King Jr. day weekend, but more vandalism is expected to show up throughout the semester.

Chris Kopach, associate director of Facilities Management, said vandalism on campus is a regular occurrence.

Although Kopach said he regularly instructs his crew to remove graffiti as soon as possible, money for cleaning up other defaced property is not always available.

Steve Holland, director of Risk Management and Safety, said money to fix damaged property comes directly from the state, and if the damage is not hazardous, the university doesn't get the money.

For example, four damaged benches outside the Administration building may not be repaired because they are not a safety hazard. Skateboarders apparently used the new $400 benches to perform tricks, leaving them chipped and unattractive, Kopach said.

"We just don't have the money to fix everything," he said.

Property damage is punishable under the law, whether it is a group of people spray-painting the side of a building or a skateboarder sliding across a bench.

University of Arizona Police Department Cmdr. Brian Seastone said damaging property is a criminal violation under the Criminal Damage Statute and is punishable, usually, with a fine and or a jail sentence.

Seastone said UAPD is working to quell the problem, but the vandalism is normally done under the cover of night, which makes the actual incidents hard to spot.

The court may order a person convicted of vandalism to do community service cleaning up after being convicted of damaging property.

Lee said the most popular building to be vandalized changes each year, but this year, the damage seems to be spread out.

"We get a rash, and then it totally ceases," Lee said.

He said parking garages are normal favorites to vandals because they are easily accessible.

Lee said the largest act of vandalism occurred two years ago at Arizona Stadium. Vandals scaled the walls of the stadium destroying much of the concessions area and causing $50,000 in damage.