UCSD Officials See Red Over Paisley Prank

An unidentified student group, denouncing the “cold blackness of cement,” painted more than 300 bright red paisley designs on walls, sidewalks and trees at UC San Diego early Wednesday morning, campus police said.

The paisleys, teardrop-shaped designs often used on fabrics, were an attempt to bring life and color to the 2,500-acre campus, the organization said in an unsigned letter to the student newspaper, the UCSD Guardian.

“It’s a harmless thing,” said a female student who called The Times to claim partial responsibility. “It’s no social statement, just bored people wanting to decorate the brown, dull walls of UCSD.”

She said she and about 12 other students, each armed with a paisley stencil and a can of spray paint, began painting the designs about 3 a.m. Wednesday. Their goal was to put them in the most conspicuous places possible--one was painted on the steps of the UC San Diego police station.

If caught, the students could face malicious mischief charges, campus police Sgt. Bob Jones said. The maximum sentence could be a year in jail or a $5,000 fine.

A dean at the university said the students would probably not be expelled, but would almost certainly be suspended and fined.

The student said she worries about being caught, but added, “the risk was part of the fun.” Asked why the group painted paisleys as opposed to other designs, she replied: “Because it’s such an ugly design.”

Several slogans, including the letters UPA--believed to be an abbreviation for Underground Paisley Army or Ugly Paisley Art--were painted in more than 40 locations around the campus.

Jones said he had no idea who did the paintings, but added that all police officers and many students are on the lookout for students with red hands.

Campus officials said the paintings were the worst case of vandalism ever at the university. Removal will require sandblasting at a cost of several thousand dollars, campus maintenance coordinator Tom Tweed said.

Tweed said the maintenance department will be in no hurry to remove the graffiti because there is nothing obscene about it.

Jones said the students were able to get away without being caught because there were only four police officers patrolling the campus Tuesday night.

As for the paisley painted on the police station, Jones said, “They don’t embarrass the police department. No one was in there at the time.”