Vandals have defaced the exterior and interior of a historic stone building that was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.
Virtually the entire interior of the building, in Tucson Mountain Park west of the city, is covered with graffiti 鈥 including some vulgar words and depictions.
Parts of the exterior of the structure have been defaced with bright blue paint.
The building, less than a quarter-mile from a parking lot atop Gates Pass, is a popular destination for people interested in the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps, which provided jobs and performed valuable work on public lands during the Great Depression in the 1930s. CCC structures can be found in Saguaro National Park and other Tucson-area sites as well as in Tucson Mountain Park.
鈥淲e have no idea who might be responsible for the graffiti out there,鈥 said Karen Simms, division manager for natural resources with Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation. 鈥淪uch vandalism is hard to understand. What is the motivation behind it and why do some people feel compelled to engage in that activity?鈥
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Simms said she has talked with the manager of Tucson Mountain Park, which is part of the county鈥檚 park system
鈥淗e said that it鈥檚 unfortunately becoming more and more common,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hey are regularly getting graffiti at Gates Pass. They periodically go in and remove the graffiti. But it鈥檚 pretty expensive to do, and often in a few weeks it鈥檚 back again.鈥
Costs of removing the graffiti vary depending on the extent and the type of equipment needed for the work, Simms said.
She said officials are exploring possible ways of stopping or reducing the graffiti damage.
鈥淏ut when you鈥檙e talking about vandalism, there鈥檚 nothing you could put out there short of having a person watching over it 24 hours a day,鈥 Simms said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 not practical.鈥
She acknowledged that one way of preventing more graffiti inside the building would be to install doors on the building鈥檚 two entrances and lock them.
鈥淏ut you hate to take away the experience of going inside the building,鈥 which many people enjoy, she said. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 often better for the buildings not to be boarded and locked up. That can cause people to wonder what might be hiding in there and to break in.鈥
She wasn鈥檛 certain whether the graffiti defacement had been reported to the Pima County Sheriff鈥檚 Department.
Department spokesman Deputy Ryan Inglett said the department has received reports of graffiti at the site in recent years, but that it was difficult to determine how recently the vandalism had occurred or who was responsible.
Simms said county officials will continue looking into ways of limiting graffiti defacement.
鈥淔or right now, we鈥檙e in the mode of being aware and then saying we have to go out there and clean it up again,鈥 she said. 鈥淏ut then it鈥檚 back before too long.鈥
