Will rules on graffiti backfire?

To the editor:
Requiring property owners to clean off graffiti within two days is going to be impossible in many instances. If over a weekend, the property owner may be out of town or unable to find someone else to do the work if they are unable to physically do the removal themselves.

It will probably discourage property owners from reporting the vandalism to the authorities for fear of being unable to meet the time constraints for removal and having to pay a fine because of other’s misdeeds. This makes it more difficult for the police to “track” the graffiti.

The recent early morning vandalism in Maywood makes one wonder where the parents of the youths involved were! Home asleep or out on the town? The raising of the fine on those doing the vandalism is moot because the the vandals are seldom caught! You could raise the fine to a $1,000 or $5,000, but what difference does it make if they are never caught? It will be the property owner who pays in extra work to clean up and the fine if he doesn’t.