"I know, I am bad person," states the woman accused of using acrylic paints, not chalk, to create rock art in protected park lands in the western U.S.
The National Park Service has been following a digital trail of evidence, composed of Instagram pictures tagged with the pseudonym "Creepytings," in a quest to find and arrest the graffiti vandal. The NPS says the graffiti has been found in 10 national parks across California, Nevada, Oregon and Utah.
"There are forums for artistic expression in national parks because national parks inspire artistic creativity," states the NPS in a release. "These images are outside that forum and outside the law."
A New York woman, identified apparently as Casey Nocket, has been accused of perpetrating the vandalism. Hiking enthusiast site ModernHiker pointed to images that allegedly depict Nocket taking credit for the graffiti.
The Creepytings Instagram shot was made private and has now gone offline, after news of the vandalism began to spread across the Internet and the NPS stepped in to investigate.
"While we can't discuss details of a case under investigation, we take the issue of vandalism seriously," the NPS states. "National parks exist to preserve and protect our nation's natural, cultural and historic heritage for both current and future generations. Vandalism is a violation of the law and it also damages and sometimes destroys often irreplaceable treasures that belong to all Americans."
The NPS has linked cases of vandalism in Yosemite National Park, Calif.; Death Valley National Park, Calif.; Crater Lake National Park, Ore.; Zion National Park, Utah; and Canyonlands National Park, Utah.
The NPS is still also assessing evidence in Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz.; Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park, Calif.; Joshua Tree National Park, Calif.; Rocky Mountain National Park, Colo.; and Bryce National Park, Utah.
Rebecca Sowards-Emmerd, a hiker and blogger, is said to be the concerned citizen who initially connected the link between the graffiti in the 10 national parks.
After looking through Creepytings' images, Sowards-Emmerd said it was clear the Instagram account was linked to Nocket. Sowards-Emmerd was initially angry at someone's audacity to use public lands as a personal canvas, though she realized there's an educational opportunity available with the incidents.
"The question is, how do we turn this into an opportunity to educate the ignorant and, frankly, embarrass the narcissists," states Sowards-Emmerd on her blog. "I doubt this is the exposure the 'artist' was looking for. There's no going viral with these 'beautiful' images, they're going viral as an arrogant vandal who is a mediocre artist at best."
