Graffiti spotted in Silver Lake area - KTTC Rochester, Austin, Mason City News, Weather and Sports

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) -- Residents in the Silver Lake area are complaining about graffiti showing up lately on walls, bridges and fences.

Mike Schaber, city of Rochester assistant park operations supervisor, said graffiti is more common this time of year because vandals come out before the weather turns cold.

Some of the paint is gang related and some is just random painting, Schaber said.

On Monday, city of Rochester maintenance workers were out covering the graffiti up.

"It's a problem because for our department, it's very costly," Schaber said. "We probably spend anywhere from 6 to 8 thousand dollars just on a graffiti abatement. It's something we can't plan for, so along with the vandalism that happens, this vandalism is costly for us."

Schaber said city crews have to sandblast graffiti on cement in order to remove it. He also said graffiti can cause irreversible damage to property.