SAN ANTONIO – With its peaceful waters and wildlife, the San Antonio River Walk is one of the city’s crown jewels.
At some point early Wednesday, someone covered the shining showplace with black markso of spray-painted graffiti.
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"I thought, 'What a shame. This is such a beautiful public amenity.' And to have people deface it like that way, it's very disappointing," Victoria Bjorklund, a tourist visiting from New York, said.
Bjorklund noticed the markings right away during her morning walk. She said she has seen her share of graffiti back home but never expected it here.
"(The taggers) should have more pride in their city," Bjorklund said.
Bill Noel, who is visiting from upstate New York, nearly walked right past the black lettering without noticing.
On a wall near Newell Street, someone used spray paint to spell out what appeared to be the name of a group.
The graffiti also include messages, some with vulgar words.
"It's kind of a shame that somebody has to kind of tear something down that (the city has) worked so hard to make it look really beautiful," Noel said.
San Antonio police received the first report about the destruction shortly after 6:30 a.m. Wednesday.
That call was for graffiti on a wall not far from the Tobin Center.
Later, police realized the tagger had covered about a 2-mile stretch of the River Walk between the Pearl and the St. Mary's Street bridge.
Officers spent some time questioning potential witnesses and looking for clues.
However, police did not make any arrests right away.
Bjorklund said, based on her experience, she suggests that the city clean it up as soon as possible.
"Under the broken window theory, it's best to attack those kinds of things right away when they happen," Bjorklund said.
According to a police report, it appears that is just what is in the plans. It said officers put in an order for a graffiti abatement team to clean up the mess.