Somebody wants us to love each other.
But, sometimes, love can create more problems than it solves.
The anonymous he, she or they have been writing the word “love” in chalk throughout downtown Hilo — on bridges, signs, railings, sidewalks and businesses.
Love can be important, especially during divisive times. But it’s not welcome — in chalk form or any other involving graffiti — by those who have to clean, or pay to clean, the random scribbles of others.
Nancy Cabral, owner of Caldwell Banker Day-Lum Properties, Day-Lum Rentals and the building the businesses are housed in, has 30 years of experience with property management.
In all those years, she said, Wednesday was only perhaps the 10th time the building has received graffiti.
If those who left the graffiti want to come forward and clean it up, she said, “I would be most impressed, and I would gladly work with any individual who is mature enough.”
It doesn’t matter if only chalk was used.
“It’s still destruction of property because it costs money to remove it and clean it,” Cabral said.
She said security video will be reviewed to see if the person or people who left the graffiti can be identified. That has happened a few times in the past, she said, and the perpetrators ended up painting walls to fix the damage.
Hawaii Police Department Capt. Greg Esteban said graffiti is a crime.
A charge of criminal property damage for graffiti can range from a petty misdemeanor to a felony, depending on severity.
Cabral said she understands that the message, this time, was one of “love,” but “it always costs money for the building owner to clean up, and then that cost eventually gets passed down to the consumer.”
“Unfortunately, graffiti seems to be a reality of the modern world,” Cabral said.
“Any graffiti that defaces a building, a structure, it has some financial expenses to the owner,” Esteban said.
Police rely on volunteer assistance from a group called the Aina Keepers, he said.
“Any time that there is graffiti, we try to keep on top of that,” Esteban said. When graffiti gets cleared away quickly, it discourages others from adding new messages, he added.
Esteban encouraged residents to report graffiti to the Police Department’s nonemergency line at 935-3311 so officers can request intervention from the Aina Keepers.
“A lot of these areas are prominent areas,” Esteban said. “We want to get rid of the graffiti right away.”
Email Jeff Hansel at jhansel@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
