By Robin Jedlicka - bio | email
BERRIEN COUNTY, GA (WALB) - The problem of graffiti is getting worse in Berrien County. It's appearing on buildings, fences, even on people's homes.
"Places that are normally really pretty, it's like they destroy them. It kind of makes the whole town look bad," says Ansleigh White, a member of the Berrien County 4-H Club.
The club is doing all they can to contain the problem. 11th grader Nidhi Dave applied for a clean-up grant through the Georgia Youth Summit after her family's business was spray painted on three occasions.
"If someone's trying to move into our community, they might think, 'Oh, we don't want to live here because it's a bad community," says Dave.
Law enforcement believes most of the graffiti is not gang-related; however, obvious gang symbols are also on the rise. Graffiti has also spread to road signs. Berrien County law enforcement says they're replacing between ten and twelve road signs every month.
Part of the problem can be attributed to local stores. The students say too many stores are illegally selling spray paint to minors. They successfully bought the paint in five of the six stores they checked, even though they're under 18. Students hope law enforcement will enforce this law.
Berrien 4-Hers say even though they've already used all of their grant clean-up money, they're going to keep on making sure that their home town maintains its beauty.
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