Three vacationers from Germany have been cited after happening a paintball capturing rampage that defaced highway indicators, bogs and dumpsters all through Joshua Tree National Park in California, park officers stated.
According to a press launch from the National Park Services (NPS), on Sunday, a park ranger who was patrolling the Jumbo Rocks Campground at Joshua Tree National Park observed “fresh yellow paintball splatter on structures and signs.”
Upon additional investigation into the paintball splatters, the ranger noticed a slingshot in plain view inside a car.
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Law enforcement rangers had been known as to the scene and so they started questioning the guests, who had been vacationers from Germany, who admitted to firing paintballs with a compressed paintball gun and slingshots the night time earlier than.
Inside their car, rangers recovered three slingshots, a paintball marker, paintballs, and different associated tools as proof.
Rangers additionally discovered that at the least 11 roadway indicators alongside Park Boulevard from Jumbo Rocks campground to the Maze Loop Trailhead, two miles from the west entrance of the park, had been shot with yellow paintballs.
The three people had been charged with a federal violation discover for vandalizing, defacing, or destroying property.
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The violation incurs a most penalty of a $5,000 advantageous and/or no more than six months in jail, the NPS stated.
Joshua Tree National Park Acting Chief Ranger Jeff Filosa condemned the vandalism, calling it a waste of time for employees members who could possibly be prioritizing different duties relatively than cleansing up vandalism.
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“Defacing or altering the NPS landscape, no matter how small, is against the law,” Filosa stated. “It diminishes the natural environment that millions of people travel the world to enjoy. The park is regularly tasked with removing graffiti of all types, using time and resources that could be better dedicated to other priorities.”