HANOVER — Hanover police are investigating more than 20 incidents of graffiti in downtown Hanover that took place over the holidays.
The incidents took place Sunday evening and the week preceding it, said Hanover Police Lt. Michael G. Schibuola. On Tuesday, the department posted photographs of a light-colored pickup truck to its Facebook page that Schibuola said was spotted around 8:30 p.m. Sunday which “is when we know we had specific incidents occur out here.” There were two people connected to the truck, officials said.
A parking garage, fence and the walls of town buildings were among the properties vandalized.
“We had over 20 tags of graffiti in the downtown area,” Schibuola said, including spots at the Dartmouth College campus. “Some of it’s a pretty good size, taking up an entire wall space.”
Schibuola declined to share images of the graffiti because he did not want to give recognition to the suspects, who he said might be looking for attention. Hanover police are comparing the graffiti found downtown to the tags discovered during the same time frame on fence scrims at River Park on Route 10 in West Lebanon, the thoroughfare that leads to downtown Hanover.
“It could be (related). We can’t guarantee 100%,” Schibuola said. “We’re definitely looking at the connection.”
Last year, graffiti started to appear more frequently in downtown Hanover and after an investigation police charged “high school-aged” teenagers with vandalism, he said. At that time, tags were also found on stop signs and street signs. There is a chance that those incidents are related, even though signs were not impacted.
“These were before, but it was similar,” Schibuola said. “It seems like a kind of old-school thing, but it seems to be making a comeback and causing a lot of damage to properties.”
While vandalism is typically tied to a misdemeanor, the cost of the damage from the graffiti can change those charges to a felony. Items that can’t be cleaned or repaired will need to be replaced, which could drive up the costs.
“It can all be aggregated to one event,” Schibuola said. “At the point with the damage, we’re getting close to a felony.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Hanover police at 603-634-2222 and can leave tips anonymously.
Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.
