(The following story by Mike Berger appeared on the Canton Citizen website on April 16, 2009.)
CANTON, Mass. — Two tags of graffiti art on the historic walls of the Canton Viaduct, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, will soon be cleaned by an Amtrak crew, according to George Comeau, town representative to the MBTA and a member of the Canton Historical Commission.
The graffiti was spotted a few weeks ago and seems to have been done on two different occasions at night. Police had initially thought the graffiti could be linked to an incident of vandalism on the High Street Bridge; however, according to Police Lieutenant Helena Findlen, no link has been established and police have no new leads in the case.
Comeau, who is a historical authority on the viaduct, has been in contact with the MBTA, which owns the railroad tracks, and Amtrak, which does property maintenance on the viaduct. Comeau said an Amtrak crew will powerwash the graffiti off the walks in the next few weeks or when the weather warms.
Comeau said the artwork is fairly sophisticated and probably took about an hour to complete. He said police originally looked at graffiti artwork in Boston for some similarities.
“There is a variety of paints and colors and it appears to have a message, although I don’t know what the message is,” he said.
Comeau said Amtrak and the Police Department have responded well to his inquiries, and both he and Lt. Findlen said they would investigate whether there may be federal charges for those caught defacing a property on the National Register of Historic Places.
Comeau said Ed Costanza, a former Canton resident now living in Arizona who has a special website for the viaduct, was so alarmed about the vandalism that he contacted the FBI for assistance.