by David Flint
A State Police Investigator at the Brunswick station said on Wednesday that three persons have been arrested in the case of the Grafton graffiti. Investigator Gaunay said further charges are pending.
He said the case involves graffiti and vandalism in several locations including both Grafton and Brunswick. In Brunswick it has been linked to incidents of spray painting of cars and one incident of setting furniture on fire on a lawn. Gaunay said he understands there is a kids group in the Berlin-Petersburgh-Grafton area called the “658” group or gang but he believes it to be innocent and no links have been found between that group and the graffiti. However, it was reported in the June 16 issue of the Eastwick Press that the Petersburgh Town Board discussed the “658” tags that were sprayed on the Petersburgh Public Library, and a stop sign at Varville Road and Josh Hall Pond Road was tagged with “658.” The case is still under
investigation by the BCI, and Gaunay did not want to provide any further information at this time. A press release will be issued probably on Friday
According to Petersburgh resident Andrew Zlotnick the graffiti, and what he believed could have been “gang tagging,” began appearing in Grafton about the beginning of the month. The Run for the Roses sign in front of Grafton Lakes State Park was defaced with swastikas. “It would appear that nothing is sacred,” he said, “as they defaced the Mountain Chapel sign at Yerdon Road and Route 2.” The Chapel sign was scrawled with swastikas and the words, “I hate niggers.” After the hateful scrawling was whitewashed and the Mountain Chapel lettering replaced, the sign was again tagged with what appeared to be a number or a symbol of some kind.
Grafton Town Clerk Suzanne Putnam said on Tuesday that she believed there had been no further incidents of graffiti since the previous weekend. She said she had seen at least a dozen defacements around town on signs and on the roadbeds. They included the numbers “299” and “658” along with backward swastikas and vulgar expressions. The scrawling on the Mountain Road Chapel sign she found particularly bothersome.
Putnam said she did not know if it was linked to the graffiti but she found most disturbing a report of an incident where 22 chickens had been stolen and one was left in the road with its head cut off. She said State Troopers believed it had been done by a human because the head was cut off cleanly as though with a knife.