High Sierra Topix

Cut their thumbs off.

I guess the paint itself can be removed but, unless someone here has other information, the algae or age patina of the rock will also come off. There's initials on rock on the Mist Trail that have since grown over with an algae different from the surrounding rock. Anyay, taking the paint off will create a scar lasting for decades or even longer. Really depressing.

I was on this trail the day this happened, but early in the morning. Wish I had seen something suspicious, but all I encountered were nice people enjoying the day. Depressing is right...

My weak understanding of "Tagging" is that it is generally the signature of the "Tagger." Is that correct? If so, a bit of detective work around Fresno might turn up the culprit.

Billy Bob Burro already wrote:

With a reasonable amount of effort the taggers can be tracked down. I am sure that "Fresno" and "55d" have pretty much shellacked every dumpster/panel truck/marginally maintained building within a 6 block radius of their parents home. And these tags are likely already on social media since that is how this culture gets their cred.

Thanks BBB, That's what I was hoping, but who would do the detective work?

Most taggers have their mark or signature that they repeat over and over and over. It is how they tell everyone who is into this culture that they went somewhere. Taggers like to leave their mark all over the place. A friend of mine has more than once caught taggers (his building is a popular target) that have traveled from Sacramento, Stockton or Walnut Creek to hit West Oakland.

Keep in mind that "Fresno" is not necessarily based out of Fresno. I believe that most decent sized cities will have LEO that are specifically assigned to dealing with tagging and they know who the regulars are. Yosemite NP should have the LEO resources to track down the responsible parties.

NPS hasn't called for it but it would probably be useful for anyone on the trail that day to send in photos which might have captured people on the trail. We've done this in SAR (getting all photographs) to eliminate terrain at certain time and even, in some cases, see the missing person at a certain time. YOSAR was once able to request and look at photos over a year later to trace where a person was and was not who'd disappeared. They found a photo that included him at the top of Yosemite Falls but moving away from the falls. Never did find him but at least had a definite point last seen. Anyway, if you've got photos -- not even including the people -- contact the park and see if they'd be useful.

I would not be surprised if the taggers did their beautification work around whatever camp they stayed at. That might help when tracking them down. Taggers can not resist an opportunity to tag.

That 55d is being reported elsewhere as 559; a Fresno area code. Billy Bob is right. Tagging is a signature and many people know who it is, but they won't be talking.