EASTHAMPTON — Vandalism has once again struck Mount Tom, with racial slurs and offensive imagery sprayed in black paint on the Goat Peak tower information kiosk and nearby rocks.
The culprit also signed a wooden bench with “Jakob 5/27/19,” but by Wednesday afternoon, the spray paint on the bench and the kiosk were washed away by local volunteers, with only a few black smudges remaining on the rocks.
Early on Wednesday morning, Susan Byers was on a walk up Goat Peak with her dog when she discovered the graffiti.
“Mount Tom is a sanctuary, and to have it defaced is really upsetting,” Byers said. “It’s a call for attention … It’s defacing a beautiful natural resource.”
City Councilor Thomas Peake said it’s always disappointing when offensive vandalism happens on public property, but added that the community’s swift reaction is encouraging.
“It’s very easy to be a vandal, and easy to incite people,” Peake said. He was alerted to the graffiti before lunch on Wednesday, and by the time he returned to work, he said, he saw on social media that most of the graffiti had been cleaned up.
“The community is responsive to these things and has shown itself to be willing to do the work to clean up these stupid messes,” Peake said.
The Department of Conservation and Recreation was made aware of the graffiti on Wednesday morning and staff were working to remove the vandalism, according to agency spokeswoman Olivia Dorrance. State police and Massachusetts Environmental Police were also notified.
“Perpetrators of such activities may be denied admittance to DCR property, and may be subject to a fine, eviction, banning, or a combination of those penalties,” Dorrance wrote in an email.
Graffiti on Mount Tom has been a long-standing issue. For decades, graffiti has been sprayed on rocks at the top of the mountain, and in October 2016, Naima Workman led an effort to clean off spray paint using a pressure washer and biodegradable solvents.
Shortly following Workman’s $5,000 cleanup project, which included nearly 20 volunteers, another vandalism incident on Mount Tom occurred the week after President Trump’s election in November 2016.
“Trump 2016,” swastikas and several directives, such as “gas the Jews,” appeared along the summit of Mount Tom.
A group of about a dozen volunteers, with Peake among them, cleaned off the graffiti a few days after it appeared.
Peake said he would like to see a similar effort for the latest vandalism and said he is planning on coordinating a cleanup of the remaining graffiti in the coming days.
Constituents have suggested putting up a trail camera, Peake said, to discourage further defacing of Mount Tom.
“The important thing is that our public places are somewhere people can go and feel safe and welcome,” Peake said. “I’m open to any sort of policy on what we could do to crack down on that behavior.”
Luis Fieldman can be reached at lfieldman@gazettenet.com