Dozens of Arlington road signs have reportedly been vandalized with the word “fascism” under the word “stop.”
A tipster has reported at least 28 intersections in the area of Bluemont, Dominion Hills and Boulevard Manor that have received graffiti in recent days.
The tipster emailed the county about 16 locations on Sunday and another 12 last night, according to emails provided to ARLnow. Some of the signs have received additional wording to produce messages such as, “Stop fascism and war all ways.”
“Our crews are inspecting the locations listed below and will be removing the graffiti,” county spokesperson Katie O’Brien told ARLnow. “If the graffiti cannot be removed without damaging the signs, the signs will be replaced.”
Several locations already appeared to have been fixed when ARLnow visited them Monday afternoon.
Graffiti on public property is considered destruction or defacing of property. Under Virginia state code, this carries a misdemeanor charge if the damage is less than $1,000.
The average cost of replacing a stop sign, not including the pole, is about $250, O’Brien said.
The Arlington County Police Department has received reports of graffiti on stop signs at several locations, but the cases are listed as “inactive” because of “the lack of solvability factors,” police spokesperson Alli Shorb told ARLnow.
Shorb offered the following additional advice.
The Arlington County Police Department encourages the community to report incidents of graffiti for tracking and removal purposes. Graffiti on private property can be reported online using our Police Reporting System. Our detectives review the reports and conduct follow-up including providing links for submitting photos and/or videos to our evidence management system that may assist in the investigation of these incidents. For graffiti located on public property, a service request to remove the graffiti can be made online through Arlington County’s Report-a-Problem portal. If you witness an in-progress incident, please call our non-emergency line at 703-228-5555.
A list of locations with reported damage is below.
- N. Manchester Street and 8th Road N. (both north and south side signs)
- N. Madison Street and N. Nottingham Street
- N. Harrison Street and 8th Road N.
- N. Harrison Street and 9th Road N.
- N. Harrison Street and 10th Street N.
- N. Harrison Street and 11th Street N.
- N. George Mason Drive and 15th Street N. (both east and west side signs)
- N. George Mason Drive and N. Frederick Street
- N. Manchester Street (facing south at Wilson Blvd on W&OD bike trail)
- N. Kennesaw Street and 11th Street N.
- N. Kentucky Street and 11th Street N. (both north and south facing)
- N. Kenilworth Street and 11th Street N.
- N. Kennebec Street and 11th Street N. (all four signs)
- N. Jefferson Street and 11th Street N. (both north and south facing)
- N. Kensington Street and 11th Street N.
- N. Kensington Street and 5th Street N.
- N. Lebanon Street and 9th Street N.
- N. Livingston Street and 9th Street N.
- N. Liberty Street and Wilson Blvd.
- N. Liberty Street and 9th Street N.
- N. Liberty Street and N. Larrimore Street (two signs)
- N. Liberty Street and 10th Street N. (yellow arrow sign with lots of graffiti)
- N. Livingston Street and 10th Road N.
- N. Longfellow Street and 10th Street N.
- N. Madison Street and 10th Street N.
- N. Madison Street and 9th Road N.
- N. Madison Street and 9th Street N.
- N. Montague Street and Arlington Blvd. Service Road
