Downtown Milton fights back against graffiti and vandalism

Ongoing vandalism and graffiti in Milton’s downtown has prompted a campaign to crackdown on offenders.

The Downtown Milton Business Improvement Area (BIA), Town of Milton and Halton Regional Police have joined to increase awareness, prevent the crimes, and ultimately encourage enforcement of laws and bylaws.

“Like a lot of downtowns, there are graffiti and vandalism issues here in Milton,” said Rachel Shuttleworth, executive director of the BIA. “We have been hearing from businesses, property owners and the community at large about how important it is to maintain the downtown buildings.”

Shuttleworth added the program is designed to show people what to do when they find incidents of vandalism or if they see it occurring.

Increasingly, incidents of “tagging” has been reported across the town which adds to the inventory of vandalism such as broken windows and signs and the general destruction of property. Tagging is a form of graffiti for those who spray paint their name or logo on a building, sign or mailbox as a means of marking territory. Removing graffiti from the walls of buildings can also be an expensive for property owners.

Shuttleworth said residents, business and property owners are asked to call 911 immediately if they witness graffiti, vandalism or other illegal activity in progress.

As well, people can visit the Town of Milton’s graffiti page to report incidents that need to be cleaned up.