Death Valley National Park officials asked for help in identifying a park vandal, and someone with direct knowledge called the tip line.
Death Valley National Park officials recently reached out to the public for help in identifying a park vandal and asked anyone with knowledge of the illegal acts to call the tip line, and someone did. Turns out, it was the vandal himself.
The park announced on April 14 it suspected a man named Steve from British Columbia of defacing rock faces, buildings and other infrastructure with graffiti over the past two years while traveling with his dog. The man’s graffiti in part read, “Steve & Lacy.”
People shared the request for help on social media and some contacted the National Park Service with tips. On April 17, one tipster with direct knowledge of the crime left a message. It was the Steve rangers had been looking for. Lacy is his dog.
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The next day Steve (no last name was revealed) spoke with the investigating park ranger and confessed to marking multiple sites in Death Valley. He also apologized.
Charges are pending. The penalties could be paying a fine and restitution; the man’s cooperative attitude will likely be a mitigating factor, the park said Monday.
The man who confessed told the ranger an acquaintance saw the story on social media and brought it to his attention, prompting him to come forward.
The graffiti, which occurred in January 2019 and January 2020, was found on rocks, a well, and historic structures in Echo Canyon, Butte Valley, Homestake Dry Camp and Crankshaft Junction.
“It is heartbreaking to see treasures like Death Valley National Park get damaged by intentional acts such as these,” Superintendent Mike Reynolds said in the first park announcement.
Illegal acts such as these can cause permanent damage, degrades the experience for other visitors, and are costly and time consuming to repair.
Though the park is currently temporarily closed, through traffic is allowed on CA-190 and Daylight Pass Road from Beatty, and park rangers are still patrolling the park.
Photo of park sign courtesy of Rhona Wise/AFP/Getty Images; photos of vandalism courtesy of the National Park Service.
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