ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — A historic Rock Island location was hit by graffiti for a second time in 2024.
The Hauberg Estate was vandalized with spray paint on its park bridge, sign post, and even on trees and tree limbs.
"It's kind of foreign to me why someone would want to do that," Hauberg Estate Executive Director Deb Kuntzi said. "I just wish they'd stop, that's for sure."
Kuntzi discovered the vandalism on May 12.
"We have a lot of walkers around here, because I don't go down to the bridge all the time, but they actually rang the doorbell and said that we've been tagged again," she said.
On Tuesday, May 14, Agent Clean Quad Cities sent Chad Ihrig and his son to help clean the graffiti.
"The first time we came here, it wasn't so bad. I mean, it was just a couple spots here and there on the bridge. But today there's trees that are tagged, there's signs that are tagged, the bridge is tagged again, the driveway is tagged down the hill. It's ridiculous. What's going on here?" Ihrig said.
The two-man team used a cleaning solution and pressure washer to remove the spray paint. It's work that Ihrig is used to doing at Rock Island parks, but the vandalism at Hauberg was a little brazen for him.
"We can come up with something different to tag, you know? We ought to give them a big block wall and just let them tag it if that's necessary," Ihrig said.
The historic site was hit just ahead of its annual plant sale fundraiser.
"Graffiti can be artistic, you know, it really can, and the first one was more artistic. This one is just more vandalism," Kuntzi said, adding that the team will consider adding security cameras to the lower entrance.
The graffiti was cleaned up in a few hours, and Kuntzi is hoping it will stay away so her team can bring new things to the estate.
"We're working on Andrew's Place, which is the second floor of the Carriage House, which is going to be an Airbnb," Kuntzi said.
The plant sale is on Saturday, May 18 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, May 19 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
News 8 is waiting to hear back from Rock Island Police on whether an investigation into the vandalism has started.