Local Anti-Graffiti Crews Fight Sticker Vandalism

Philadelphia officials say 'sticker graffiti' is giving them headaches, and scraping them off is not the answer.

KYW's Mike Dunn reports deputy managing director Tom Conway heads up the city's Anti-Graffiti Network and he says graffiti caused by stickers or decals is tough to remove -- his crews have to power wash them off:

"It's time-consuming, basically the water blasts the sticker off the pole, as opposed to scraping it, which would cause damage."

Conway does not, though, believe that the amount of sticker graffiti is on the rise:

"We haven't seen an increase in complaints with regards to stickers."

Nor have his crews reported an increase.  Conway does urge you to call the city's 3-1-1 line if you notice sticker and decal graffiti.  He says a lot of it lately have been stickers created to promote local rock radio stations and those stations could face fines.

(Photos by KYW's Ed Fischer)