Bureau of Land Management offers reward for arrests in archaeological vandalism

April 09, 2013

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is investigating the vandalism of an archaeological site just over the Arizona state line near Blythe, Calif.

graffiti Some of the graffiti at an archaeological site. (Photo courtesy BLM-Arizona)

The BLM is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the people who spray painted graffiti over ancient Native American petroglyphs on public land. 

Michael Cain is an investigator with the BLM office in Yuma.  He said the vandalism was discovered earlier this year, but the federal government hasn’t come forward with the reward until now because there are no leads in the case.

“Crimes like this aren’t going to be tolerated.  We’re going to do everything within our power to go after the people that do this sort of crime," Cain said. "Hopefully if we can get enough people aware of the problem we can deter future incidents like this from occurring.”

Cain said the Native American rock sketches are protected under federal law, and the crime is considered a felony. He said some of the spray paint can be removed, but it’s an expensive and long process.