Iconic sandstone rocks vandalized at Utah’s busiest national park, officials say

Bright neon blue paint was found on the famous rocks of Zion National Park, officials said.

About six bright blue squares were painted on the sandstone in Zion and are believed to be part of a masonry or art project, officials said. The boxes are about 3 feet by 3 feet.

The paint was about a mile south of the Wildcat Trailhead, and most of it has been removed, park officials said.

“Graffiti and other forms of damage to parks are harmful and illegal,” park officials said on Facebook. “Repair of vandalized sites is costly and time consuming. The staff often cannot restore sites and resources to their former condition.”

People on Facebook were outraged that someone would vandalize an iconic and historic part of the national park.

“What is wrong with people? If you are drawn to go there for peace and beauty, it only makes sense to leave peace and beauty alone,” one commenter said. “Nobody wants to see that ugliness no matter what it is. And you’re seriously packing paint in your backpack? Extremely immature.”

Others said the vandal should be banned from all national parks.

“The consequences violators have had are not severe enough to deter them and others. It’s time to stop this kind of malicious behaviors and punish them severely,” another angry commenter said.

Many of the rocks at Zion National Park are sedimentary rocks whose layers were deposited between 110 million and 270 million years ago, park officials said. Nearly 450,000 people visited the park in July, and almost 4.5 million people visited in 2019, according to park data.

Other national parks have seen an increase in vandalism and litter as more people are heading outdoors during the coronavirus pandemic, McClatchy News reported.

At Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, park officials received 13 reports of incidents of graffiti, broken doors and windows, cut locks and other damage to structures in the area, according to the Special Agent NPS Instagram account. Last year, there were only two cases of vandalism reported during the same period.

Camp Rock at City of Rocks National Reserve in Idaho also saw “the worst case of vandalism in the park’s history,” according to the Idaho Statesman.

Zion National Park asks anyone who could have information on the blue paint to contact the park.

“This information could help investigators,” Zion park officials said. “Callers don’t have to identify who they are but are asked to share what they know so rangers can prevent this from happening in the future.”

This story was originally published August 3, 2020 at 11:15 AM with the headline "Iconic sandstone rocks vandalized at Utah’s busiest national park, officials say."