When the first stenciled storm trooper appeared months ago on the side of the former Starkville Buses building at Jackson and Lampkin streets, Starkville Police Department Chief David Lindley admits he thought it was “kind of cute.”
Since then, stenciled graffiti has appeared on buildings, signs, walls and utility boxes throughout Starkville.
Stenciled images of flamingoes and a man in headphones line a bridge along University Drive, while the storm trooper, an homage to George Lucas” “Star Wars” movie series, appears in at least two locations in town — the former Starkville Buses building and on the front of an unoccupied home on University Drive.
Images of Guy Fawkes, famous for attempting to blow up British Parliament during the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, also have been stenciled on the home, and on a utility box at Russell Street and Highway 12, among other places.
Now, months after the first stenciled graffiti appeared, Lindley no longer thinks the artwork is cute. And the Starkville Police Department is going after the person or persons responsible, Lindley assured the Starkville Board of Aldermen Tuesday night.
Lindley will meet soon with the city”s public services director, Doug Devlin, to make plans to remove the graffiti. Then, the Starkville Police Department will consider whether to install cameras to help combat the graffiti problem. The SPD already has cameras it could install, he said.
“We”re going to try to determine if we need (to install cameras) and, if so, where to put them,” Lindley said.
Cameras already monitor parts of downtown Starkville, including the intersections of Main Street and Lafayette Street and Main Street at Washington Street and Dr. D.L. Conner Drive. Police regularly monitor those cameras.
If caught, the graffiti artist could face felony malicious mischief charges, Lindley said.
HOW TO HELP
Anyone with information on the recent vandalism is urged to call the Starkville Police Department at 662-323-4131, or Golden Triangle Crime Stoppers at 1-800-530-7131. Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 reward.
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