Elimination Games

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More than tagged, the town has been marked, mural'd and occasionally mired in what some view as renegade beauty and others call outright vandalism. Even the bark of Tree Town's namesakes isn't off limits.

Three years ago, city council saw the writing on local walls and strengthened the town's graffiti ordinance. In the fall of last year, the city again beefed up abatement efforts through the police department's Office of Community Standards.

Purely cultural or plainly criminal, most graffiti simply violates the state's malicious destruction of property law, says Lt. Renee Bush, who oversees the unit.

It's a double whammy for property owners. According to the ramped-up city ordinance, "No person who owns or otherwise controls or manages any property shall permit or allow any Graffiti to be or remain on any surface or structure on the property beyond the time indicated in a notice ..."

In other words, property owners--the victims, that is--are held responsible for cleanup. The city makes exceptions, but, technically, owners have seven days to eliminate graffiti. If they don't do it, the city will ... for a charge.