Unidentified vandals sprayed graffiti in various location on campus Friday night, said UT Police Department Sgt. Samuel Ferguson.

Using red spray paint, the perpetrator sprayed what reads as “MUNgLoaf Was here” on a north-side wall of the Weaver Power Plant Annex and “GiG em Aggies” along a bridge connecting the Winship Drama Building to San Jacinto Boulevard. In addition, crosshairs were sprayed on an east-side wall of the Winship Building, and a phallic depiction was painted next to Donald Lipski’s East Mall monument, “The West.”

Undeclared sophomore Sara Merrifield said she has a strong love for art, but the graffiti was done in bad taste.

“It’s sad that people would do this,” Merrifield said. “It’d be even more disrespectful [if a student from a different university did it].”

Liberal arts freshman Alyson Courtenay said she walked by “The West” with her parents, who were visiting for UT Parents’ Weekend, and noticed the graffiti.

“I never knew what to think of the monument before — I just thought of it as good art,” Courtenay said. “Now, this is another next level. I don’t think UT students would go around doing this at other universities.”

Texas A&M University freshman Crystal Garcia said that she really hopes the graffiti wasn’t done by an Aggie.

“Not only is it extremely disrespectful, but this goes against everything that A&M stands for,” she said.

University of Kansas alumnus Kirk Sundel said the graffiti on the Lipski structure was barely noticeable until he looked closely.

“Hey, that’s really funny,” Sundel said. “I think they’re a little off though [in the anatomy] — they probably came from KU.”

UTPD director of communications Rhonda Weldon said there was nothing to be alarmed by, and the vandalism was fairly routine. She said the graffiti that they deal with is cleaned up as efficiently and effectively as possible, and this instance would be no different.

“All I can say is that working at UT, you become accustomed to all kinds of graffiti and how to handle it,” Weldon said.

Printed on Monday, October 24, 2011 as: On-campus structures marred by vandalism