Orlando seeing an increase in graffiti during stay-at-home order

Orlando, FL(FOX 35 Orlando) - With so many streets quiet during the stay-at-home order, officials in Orlando say vandals have been out spraying graffiti in parts of the city. graffiti

"They can be in and out in under a minute. It happens very quickly." Pandemic painting. artists."

Property owner Linh Ho says vandals tagged his building in the Mills 50 District.

"If they’re artists, they’re not very good," he says. "I was a little disappointed. This actually isn’t the first time it’s happened. It’s probably the second or third time it’s happened, so we’ve since then put up a security camera."

Neighboring businesses have been tagged too.

"The building next store to us where Alpha Graphics, Guesthouse, Black Rooster." 

Keep Orlando Beautiful’s executive director Sean Hipps says he has seen an increase throughout the whole city.

"Over these past two months, I would say myself and community specialists have probably seen 100-plus tags," he explains.

While the uptick usually occurs during the summer break, he says it's been happening more during the coronavirus quarantine.

"Obviously, these two-and-a-half months, people are finding some more time whether it's good or stir craziness," Hipps says.

Keep Orlando Beautiful has a graffiti tracker program that records every tag and location.

"You’ll often find them on electrical boxes, street signs, sometimes on dumpsters, on our sidewalks, within our parks."

Ho hopes they catch the vandals soon.

"These guys know what they’re doing. They obviously knew where our motion-activated lights were, to kind of avoid them. To me, they’ve staked it out before, especially since we’ve been tagged before."

Residents and business owners can also get paint from the city if they need assistance in covering up the graffiti. If you need to file a graffiti report, go to the City of Orlando website.