Residents of the upper-class Valencia Summit community woke up with a big surprise Sunday morning. Much of their neighborhood had been vandalized and property owners did not even know who the culprits were.
There was a wide array of graffiti in various places including garages, sidewalks, fences, light poles and even vehicles. Sheriff’s officials confirmed at least six reports of various kinds of vandalism but residents in the Valencia Summit community, such as Ann Smith, reported seeing dozens of different kinds of graffiti as she drove around her neighborhood Sunday morning.
Her own house fell victim to the vandalism, with the number 300 and other illegible graffiti on her garage.
“I was in shock because I didn’t expect it in this neighborhood,” she said
Sheriff’s officials are unsure what the markings signify but will be investigating their meaning in the future.
Smith was not the only resident in shock about the vandalism. Robin Parihar woke up with neighbors knocking on his door Sunday morning informing him that his house had also been vandalized. He is unsure who the culprit could be but doesn’t leave out the possibility it is gang related.
“The signs sure look like (it’s gang related) but I can’t be sure,” he said.
Sheriff officials, such as Lt. Chuck Becerra of the SCV Sheriff’s Station are also unsure at this point if the markings can be gang-related but he recognizes that they could be done by some sort of tagging crew.
Becerra does not recognize where the markings came from but he says the sheriff’s stations has deputies that do. He intends to pass the markings off to them to see if the deputies can identify where the graffiti came from.
“I don’t recognize the markings but I know someone here will,” he said.
