The University of Wisconsin Police Department is still searching for the party responsible for spraying graffiti on several campus buildings last week.
Between March 9 and 13, graffiti depicting a pregnant woman with the word “monster” written alongside it appeared on Helen C. White Hall, Science Hall, Radio Hall, the Madison Safety Department Chemical and Radiation Protection and on a tunnel by the Kohl Center, Bruce Sullivan, supervisor of the Paint Shop, said.
The incidents seem to be connected.
“It was similar graffiti that was spray painted in black normally,” Sullivan said. “It had monster written on there, and I don’t know if it was related to the abortion clinic or something from UW, but it looked like a pregnant woman.”
Sullivan added as the weather warms up, graffiti levels tends to spike on campus, but last week there was an unusually large amount of vandalism that appeared to be done by the same person or people.
According to a UWPD statement, in one incident a white male approximately 6 feet tall and 20 years old was seen fleeing the area of a fresh graffiti wearing dark pants and a jacket and carrying a red and white backpack.
Assistant Director of the physical plant Kris Ackerbauer said the graffiti was quickly removed with a combination of techniques including water blasting and sand and chemical solutions.
Sullivan said this graffiti may be related to an incident at Ingraham Hall last month in which the same graffiti design was spray painted and buckets of paint were poured from the roof.
“They had gotten on the roof of Ingraham and poured [paint] right down the wall, and the wall’s probably 25 feet tall,” Sullivan said.
Ackerbauer said graffiti removal diverts university resources that could be put to better use elsewhere.
“In [a] cash-strapped university, our resources that could be used for painting buildings inside or doing restorative work are being wasted by doing this kind of stuff,” Ackerbauer said. “I won’t say it’s tragic, but it’s certainly wasteful.”
Anyone with information about the graffiti is encouraged to call the Madison Area Crime Stoppers at 608-266-6014.
