Taggers Branch Out Into a New Medium

A peaceful stand of sycamore trees at Irvine Regional Park was scarred with graffiti recently in an act of vandalism that dismayed park rangers and visitors alike.

“It really hurts when you see it,” said Tim Miller, manager of county park operations, whose office is not far from the marred trees.

“The trees are what makes the park. This kind of graffiti takes away from the natural beauty and atmosphere,” Miller said. “It’s the sort of thing you expect to see on a freeway sign, not in a park.”

The tagging incident and other acts of destruction against trees are a small but troubling form of urban vandalism that affects not just parks but tree-lined streets and other greenbelts as well.

Vandals have struck communities across the county, plastering graffiti on stately pines in downtown Santa Ana and actually setting some tropical palms afire in Anaheim.

Police suspect that most of the vandalism is the work of teenagers and is an offshoot of the tagging epidemic that plagued Orange County a few years ago.

Thanks to aggressive cleanup and enforcement efforts, the graffiti crisis has eased in recent years. But it remains a persistent problem, with trees now being targeted along with walls, street signs and lampposts.

Tree vandalism is far greater problem in Los Angeles County, where even wilderness parks like the Angeles National Forest have experienced repeated tagger attacks.

The situation in Orange County is less severe, but experts say they still fear that painting and cutting are taking a toll on sensitive vegetation.

“Etching and carving into the bark does a great deal of damage,” said Jenni Cross, director of ReLeaf California, a tree-planting organization based in Costa Mesa. “It opens up wounds that are an ideal way for pests to enter.”

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Carving into trees is a time-honored custom among young people, though the messages they etch are changing.

“People used to carve hearts or their initials,” said Michael Howard, head of a nonprofit graffiti cleanup group called Operation Clean Slate. “But now, they are carving threats, marking territory and writing gang monikers. It’s a different situation.”

Howard, who sponsors youth art and graffiti removal programs across the county, said he often encounters tagged trees but usually avoids cleaning them for fear that his efforts might harm the trees.

“To me, it’s the most frustrating thing,” he said. “I often tell the kids, ‘If you have to graffiti something, please don’t do the trees because they are living organisms that provide oxygen and shade.’ ”

Santa Ana park officials said tree vandalism has not been a major problem except in a few locations. At Thornton Park, for example, youths repeatedly destroyed newly planted trees. To solve the problem, officials replaced them with larger trees that vandals found more difficult to break down.

Tree tagging is also rare at county parks, though officials said restrooms at several sites are often attacked with graffiti.

Miller said the county is trying to determine a safe method for removing graffiti from trees. “We need to be very careful,” he said. “Some of these trees are 300 or 400 years old. It’s a delicate matter.”

In the past, officials have used wire brushes or paint that matches the color of the bark.

Vandalizing natural objects “distracts all the other people who come here to enjoy the natural beauty of the parks,” Miller said.

As cities try to lend a rustic look to urban areas by planting hundreds of new trees along major boulevards and side streets, the problem could become more widespread.

Hoping to head off more vandalism, Anaheim officials have involved neighborhood teenagers in tree-planting projects and even asked priests to bless the new trees.

“We try to bring in the whole community instead of just imposing the trees on the neighborhood,” said Jaide, program coordinator for ReLeaf Anaheim. “To prevent vandalism, it takes a lot of legwork before the trees are planted. We want the people to feel a sense of ownership.”