They usually come at night, sneaking around with spray paint cans and bad intentions. Some are members of criminal gangs intent on marking property with their secret symbols, while others simply see themselves as harmless pranksters, or even as some kind of artist.

Unfortunately, graffiti is a costly and ugly blight on many central Oklahoma neighborhoods. Just recently, some socalled graffiti artists marked buildings in Bethany’s downtown business district. Not only were the sprayed symbols ugly, but the vandals damaged the roof of at least one business, causing water leaks that were expensive to repair.

For years, owners of homes and businesses have had to paint over graffiti themselves or file expensive insurance claims to cover up the damage. Now, under the SHINE program I created to put courtordered community service offenders to work, Oklahoma County has a no-cost graffiti removal team that has already removed defacing pain from hundreds of structures.

The SHINE crew assigned to graffiti removal works Monday through Friday, using a portable power washer to spray away the offending markings. If that won’t do the job the crew has buckets of different colored paint, or they can use paint provided by the property owner.

In the Bethany graffiti outbreak, some property owners had already painted over the markings, but our SHINE crew was able to paint over the rest. Walking down NW 39 to talk to business owners while the crew was at work on the roof, I found many owners to be disgusted and upset by the overnight assault on their property.

Unfortunately, they noted that it wasn’t the first time graffiti vandals had struck, and they doubted it would be the last.

As I explained to them that day, our SHINE crew specifically targets repeat locations. If vandals return after graffiti is removed to add more, we’ll move that location to the top of our list and be back within days to repair the damage. That sends a message to vandals to stop, that their antics will not be tolerated.

In most cases, graffiti is not as expensive for property owners to repair as smashed windows or a burglary, but it can add up, and it is certainly annoying. No owner of a home or business wants to get up in the morning to find lettering scrawled all over the place, often with challenges and obscenities included.

SHINE responds to graffiti locations anywhere in Oklahoma County. Most are reported to us by local police, but we are also eager to help property owners who contact us directly after a graffiti attack. We do ask that owners sign a simple release form, but there is no charge for the cleanup.

If you have a graffiti problem, call my office at 713-1502 and we’ll respond with a cleanup crew. Let’s send a message to vandals that it’s not worth their time.

Brian Maughan is District 1 commissioner for Oklahoma County.