Palmer cops seek downtown vandals

PALMER — Whatever A stands for, the Palmer Police Department doesn’t think it’s art.

Vandals struck downtown Palmer on successive nights last week, tagging signs and business with green and brown letter A’s, causing thousands of dollars in property damage, police said.

The first reports of the vandalism emerged Monday morning, when several signs along Alaska Street were covered with a logo resembling the circle-A anarchy sign, and other graffiti featuring references to male genitalia. Vandals using similar methods and different colors also hit several businesses on South Chugach Street, including road signs near the Palmer Senior Center, a pet cremation business, and a steel and aluminum sales business across from Palmer Middle School. The first night, 15 businesses were hit. On subsequent nights, about 10 more businesses were vandalized.

Police are taking the vandalism seriously, said police chief Lance Ketterling. He estimated the cost of the damage in the thousands.

“This is not just a minor thing with kids having fun,” he said. “There’s real damage being done to people’s property.”

Most of the businesses are concentrated in downtown Palmer.

At Combs Insurance, elbow grease and denatured alcohol took care of one of two alterations made to the sign, a red line through the sign’s prominent C. On the base, a large A in a circle would require some repainting.

Ron Combs, the business’s vice president, estimated he spent about three hours cleaning the red line off of the C, and said the total cost for repairing the damage was less than $100.

Cheryl Combs, the business’s account manager, said employees discovered the graffiti Monday morning. The thinks the culprits are probably middle school or high-school aged.

“It’s sad to see,” she said. “I think they’re bored teenagers, probably.”

Police are still looking for the culprits, Ketterling said. Anyone with information is urged to call Palmer Police at 745-4811.

Contact Brian O’Connor at brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com