To see more photos of the graffiti, view Daily Texan photo blog: Aggie-themed graffiti litters campus.
The University of Texas Police Department is still searching for the individuals responsible for painting Texas A&M related graffiti on various areas of the UT campus this past weekend.
UT spokesperson Cindy Posey said the University still does not know who tagged the areas around the UT Tower, Peter T. Flawn Academic Center and East and West Mall this weekend or even when it happened. She said it was most likely Friday night or Saturday morning and does not know if the culprit or culprits were caught on film or seen.
Building management officials started cleaning the affected areas Saturday and expect the cleanup to be completed soon.
Prominent UT landmarks affected include statues of Jefferson Davis and Woodrow Wilson in front of the UT Tower and the 1987 “The West” sculpture by Donald Lipski.
The red graffiti includes the phrases “ATM,” “MUNGLOAF,” “Howdy,” “GIG ‘EM,” “FARMERS FIGHT,” “Whoop!,” “OLD ARMY Fight!,” “SEC!,” “GO AGGIES,” “CORPS,” and “MISS US YET?.”
Posey said she did not know what the consequences for the vandals involved would be.
Similar vandalism attacks have occurred at UT in the past. In October 2011, vandals spray painted a bridge near the F. Loren Winship Drama Building and other campus areas with similar sayings in red spray paint.
Keith Randall, a spokesperson for Texas A&M, said he has not seen a similar attack on the Texas A&M College Station campus in his 15 years working there.
A Texas A&M billboard in North Austin was vandalized in September. No charges were filed in that case because the vandalism happened shortly before the billboard was set to come down. A representative from Lamar Advertising Company, the agency that owns the billboard, said the company does not who was responsible for the vandalism.
The Texas A&M football team joined the Southeastern Conference this fall and is not set to play UT this season for the first time since 1914. A rivalry between the two schools has existed since 1894, when they first began playing each other.
Undeclared freshman Emily Smith said she thought the graffiti was probably done to keep the rivalry between the two universities going, but it didn’t accomplish that goal very well.
“They could have done a better job, a more impressive job,” she said. “It kind of looks like chicken scratch.”
Printed on Monday, October 29, 2012 as: UTPD looks for A&M vandals
