LAS VEGAS -- Nevada history dating back 1,000 years was vandalized in seconds with spray paint. The ancient artwork carved into the stones at Red Rock Canyon is now covered with graffiti, and Las Vegas police is linking the crime to a local gang.
Metro is actively pursuing more than one suspect believed to be involved and believe they should have people in custody relatively soon. But a graffiti expert fears if it happened once, it could happen again.
Every time someone canvasses an area with graffiti, Mike Kightlinger with American Graffiti cleans it up. After looking at the photos, he says defacement at Red Rock was the work of amateurs.
"This looks like it was a tagging crew -- not that sophisticated. It was a single color paint. They did have their roll call on the side," he said.
Kightlinger sees three monikers he believes are the taggings of teens looking for their 15 minutes of fame.
"Both law enforcement and I question whether or not they really knew where they were and what they were doing," he said. "My personal opinion is that it was two or three teenagers that had nothing else to do."
The defaced pictographs said to be from the Paiute Indians are about a half mile hike in a remote rock area. Police believe the vandalism happened between the last week of October and the first week of November.
Kightlinger will help consult the cleanup and says visibility, day or night access and exposure made it a target. He says it's likely it will happen again. The crime has serious consequences -- a federal crime punishable by jail time and thousands of dollars in fines.
Some argue that showing the vandalism on TV is only glorifying their actions, but Kightlinger argues publicizing it will only help bring the people responsible to justice.
Police are asking for your help. If you have any information, contact Crime Stoppers at (702) 385-5555. You may be eligible for a $2,500 reward.
