MOUNT VERNON — Downtown merchants opened their doors for business on the final weekday of 2011 only to find vandals had been out overnight painting graffiti on business buildings and vehicles.
Mount Vernon News press room manager Dean Hammons said that a small entry door and a large overhead door on the News south alley entrance both had similar graffiti painted on them when he arrived for work this morning. The graffiti is a black substance and appears to resemble the consistency of shoe polish. Hammons said that a small section of graffiti was found on a News delivery truck Thursday morning, and additional sections of the truck were found vandalized this morning as well. It’s not known at this time the intended message in the graffiti.
Similar graffiti was also discovered this morning on the rear door of the former Candyland on South Main Street; the rear entry door of Critchfield, Critchfield and Johnston Attorneys at Law; Century Link; and a “No Trespassing” sign posted on a storage shed of The Terrace Apartments on South Gay Street.
Mount Vernon Police Sgt. Fred Gerber was investigating reports today of the incidences.


