The city of Eureka is offering a $500 reward for information about graffiti that has been painted throughout the Flat Creek Trail system, four parks and Central Avenue, the Eureka Police Department announced on its Facebook page.
Capt. Michael Werges said the distinctive graffiti started to appear in September and the frequency increased in October. He said the graffiti has been found along the Flat Creek Trail, Drewel Park, Kircher Park, Legion Park, Lions Park and the Central Avenue corridor.
He said because the graffiti is consistent in style and done with either spray paint or paint pen, investigators believe the same person or a group of people working together are painting the messages, which do not appear to be vulgar.
He said the painting appears to be occurring overnight, and it is appearing on construction equipment at Lions and Legion parks, fences, backstop posts and other flat surfaces throughout the city.
“It is frustrating because we are trying to improve infrastructure and facilities, and we have a couple of people vandalizing it,” Werges said. “We are stepping up patrols in the area, and we are willing to pay a reward to someone who can help us identify who is doing it.”
He said city employees are cleaning the graffiti, but he did not have an estimate for the cost to repair the damage.
Eureka Police requested help and publicized the reward in an Oct. 20 Facebook post. Werges said as of Monday, Oct. 23, investigators were following up on tips.
“We have spent all of this time and effort to improve facilities for families, and we want to keep it nice,” he said.
Anyone with information about the graffiti may email Eureka Police at detective@eureka.mo.us. Werges said those providing information may remain anonymous.