Graffiti scrawled on homes and public buildings in Morpeth could send the area 'downhill' and discourage visitors, some locals fear.
Northumbria Police say they've been "working closely" with local schools and the council over reports of vandalism in the Northumberland town over the last month.
Morpeth resident Carmen Pattison captured several images of the vandalism on walls earlier in February, sharing them on a local Facebook group where a number of people agreed that graffiti was a concern.
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She said: "There are have been several victims of it and there are a lot of people who feel like things are going downhill a little bit in the area.
"It's definitely been getting worse recently, a lot of the 'tags' look the same so it's possibly a small minority, but it's well-documented that when graffiti appears somewhere you will get more of it...
"Morpeth has always been a major tourist destination, we've won awards, Covid has shut down a lot of high streets but ours has remained and new businesses are opening, but if you come to the area and it looks like that it could put people off."
She said a local carpark and the walls around some footpaths had been badly daubed, but there had also been instances of people's homes being vandalised. Among the graffiti she documented was a number of crude drawings of genitalia. In one instance she also found several swastikas.
She said: "There are different 'tags' but there's also offensive material as well, penises and Nazi signs and things like that - if kids are doing this they might not understand the consequences of their behaviour."
Carmen called for more preventative action from Northumbria Police - she had encouraged those who'd experienced graffiti to report it to police but said it was "backwards policing" to wait for reports, as opposed to preventing the issues with regular patrols and community education.
In response, the force said it was working with local schools and the council to educate youngsters as well as investigating specific incidents.
Carmen said she'd also had a good response from local schools she'd approached about tackling the issue.
A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “Over the past month we have received several reports of graffiti being daubed on premises and signage in the Morpeth area.
“We know this is a disheartening sight for locals and CCTV and door-to-door enquiries are ongoing to identify those responsible.
“Officers are also working closely with the local council and schools to educate young people on the impact and consequences of anti-social behaviour.
“Anybody found to have been involved will be dealt with swiftly.
“Anyone with information is asked to contact police via the ‘Tell Us Something’ page of our website.”
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