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Designs tagged on the spirit rock change nearly every day, but graffiti painted on the front of the University Theatre, paint on bricks around the rock and a phallus painted on the west side of Green Hall late Oct. 16 or early Oct. 17 have proven more difficult to revise.
Kelly Kinnard, director of physical plant services, said a Facilities Management (FM) crew noticed the graffiti the morning of Oct. 17 and immediately attempted to pressure wash the walls. Markings on the Theatre faded more than the phallic image on Green Hall, but both were still visible.
"If I had to guess, I'd say it was an oil or enamel based paint because of the way it saturated the aggregate," he said. "A water based paint would have come right off."
FM staff sandblasted the graffiti Oct. 28, but remaining traces of paint meant the painted panels had to be remortared by a contractor Oct. 29-30.
"I'd estimate we've invested $400-$500 in time and effort. The contractor hasn't billed us yet, and I expect that expense will significantly exceed our costs."
In an Oct. 27 email to the student body, Darrelene Rachavong, vice president for student affairs, noted the expense of the clean-up effort and the severity of the penalty for vandalism, which is a felony.
"Tuition fees pay for most of the university budget," Rachavong said. "When Facilities has to go out and take care of it, their budget has to pay for it, regardless of who did it."
UTD Police Lt. Chris Dickson said graffiti, defined as intentionally creating indelible markings without a property owner's consent, is automatically a state jail felony when it occurs on a building at an institution of higher education.
A state jail felony carries a penalty of up to two years in a state prison and fines up to $10,000. But the charge can be more severe if incidences of graffiti are linked and if the combined cost of repair is more than $20,000, Dickson said.
UTD Police Capt. Finney said police strongly suspect a connection between the graffiti found on the building and markings on the spirit rock.
UTD PD has increased police patrols near the spirit rock to deter people from painting anywhere other than the rock. Finney said he could not disclose whether or not security cameras would be used to monitor the area, but said police were using all available investigative methods to detect future incidents.
"We don't track who paints the rock," Rachavong said. "The color that appeared on the building was similar to what appeared on the rock at the time... One student called it a 'crime of convenience.'"
Rachavong said administrators could not be certain a student was responsible for the graffiti, but future incidents could result in the removal of the spirit rock and other rocks.
"I hope it's just one student and they'll get the message so we don't have to move or eliminate the rocks," she said. "If we keep having this happen and there's a sense that the rock is creating the problem, we'll have to look at moving the rocks that students worked so hard to obtain."
Canard, who became director of physical plant services about a month ago, said the incident was unexpected and disappointing.
"It's not what you would expect at this level of higher education," Canard said. "I hope they catch whoever's responsible. This isn't the image of UTD we want to portray."
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