MOAB, Utah — The worst fears of those who support closing Utah's national parks during the government shutdown have come true after graffiti and vandalism were recently discovered inside Arches National Park.
Using white spray paint, vandals wrote the words "Grug" on several of the delicate sandstone structures within the Devils Garden Trail.
Retired National Park Service ranger Allyson Mathis found the graffiti while hiking with a friend on Wednesday and said the paint appeared to be fresh.
"There was a lot of it, and it was bad. We were both just shocked and just really appalled," Mathis said. "And to me it's quite clear that it was very recent, probably since the last rain, which I think was October 24, so within the last couple of weeks, and the rangers hadn't known about it."
During her years as a park ranger, Mathis had worked on removing her share of light graffiti, but nothing like what she discovered last week.
"Paint is a whole different ball game," she said. "And for that, I don't even know if Arches has on staff anybody who's that level of graffiti specialist, but hopefully, within the National Park Service, they do."
Along with the paint, Mathis found fresh toilet paper that someone had thrown around the trail.
"To me, it was a result of the shutdown, and it symbolized the vulnerabilities of the parks to what is happening with the shutdown without them being protected," said Mathis.
During the ongoing shutdown, which hit 41 days on Monday, Utah's "Mighty Five" national parks have remained open, although with far less support staff on hand than normal. Without proper oversight from park rangers, many, including Mathis, have been concerned about incidents such as the graffiti discovered inside Arches, and believe the parks should be closed until the government reopens and staffing returns to normal.
"I would say close the parks because they are not being protected. That essential part of the national park mission of preserving, unimpaired, for the benefit of future generations is not happening," Mathis said.
FOX 13 News reached out to the National Park Service about its plans for removing the graffiti, but due to the shutdown, the call was forwarded to an automated voicemail system and not returned.
As for Mathis, even days later, she can't understand why anyone would want to mar the beauty of Utah's natural landscapes.
"Why would anyone feel like they needed to, or that they should leave their mark, right? It's like, talk about to me, disrespect."
