Tumalo Falls Vandals, Oregon park officials are hunting for a family of vandals who defaced a trail after they smugly posed for a photo with their handiwork.
Brett Nelson said he was hiking Tumalo Falls in Deschutes National Forest on Saturday when he spotted a man and his two teenagers carving their names into a trail railing.
When Nelson’s hiking partner pulled out a camera to document the vandalism, the family mocked the park defenders — and then gladly posed for the picture.
The U.S. Forest Service officials launched an investigation into the incident, because they have Nelson’s photo evidence. Without visual proof, the team likely would have passed on the case because vandalism is common in national parks, Deschutes National Forest spokeswoman Kassidy Kern told the Oregonian.
Nelson, from Prineville in central Oregon, posted the incriminating images on Instagram and Facebook, where it racked up more than 45,500 shares by Tuesday morning.
No one has positively identified the family yet, Nelson said, but there are at least 7,000 unread Instagram messages waiting in his inbox.
Nelson said he confronted the father, daughter and son on the Saturday hike and asked. The teenager girl insisted she could do what she wanted — and her dad backed her up, he said.
The infuriated nature lover then asked the father for his license plate number so he could carve his name into the hood of his car. The dad arrogantly said. “Go for it. It’s a rental,” Nelson posted on Facebook.
The trio said they were visiting from California.
"I was like, 'Go back,'" Nelson said. "Go carve your name in your own picnic table. Nobody wants you here."
So the person Nelson was hiking with decided to snap the photo. The teenage girl flashed a peace sign, the boy grinned with his arms outstretched and the dad looked on while snacking from a Ziploc baggie.
"PROUD parent letting children carve names in tumalo falls hand railing," Nelson wrote in the Facebook photo’s caption.
Park officials hope that their internal investigation combined with the power of social media will lead them to the vandals. The California family could face jail time or fines if they are caught, because defacing public property is a misdemeanor.
"I don't want any kind of ramifications toward the kids," Nelson told the newspaper. "That's not the message I'm trying to get across. I just want wrongdoing to be admitted and for us all to move on."
Brett Nelson said he was hiking Tumalo Falls in Deschutes National Forest on Saturday when he spotted a man and his two teenagers carving their names into a trail railing.
When Nelson’s hiking partner pulled out a camera to document the vandalism, the family mocked the park defenders — and then gladly posed for the picture.
The U.S. Forest Service officials launched an investigation into the incident, because they have Nelson’s photo evidence. Without visual proof, the team likely would have passed on the case because vandalism is common in national parks, Deschutes National Forest spokeswoman Kassidy Kern told the Oregonian.
Nelson, from Prineville in central Oregon, posted the incriminating images on Instagram and Facebook, where it racked up more than 45,500 shares by Tuesday morning.
No one has positively identified the family yet, Nelson said, but there are at least 7,000 unread Instagram messages waiting in his inbox.
Nelson said he confronted the father, daughter and son on the Saturday hike and asked. The teenager girl insisted she could do what she wanted — and her dad backed her up, he said.
The infuriated nature lover then asked the father for his license plate number so he could carve his name into the hood of his car. The dad arrogantly said. “Go for it. It’s a rental,” Nelson posted on Facebook.
The trio said they were visiting from California.
"I was like, 'Go back,'" Nelson said. "Go carve your name in your own picnic table. Nobody wants you here."
So the person Nelson was hiking with decided to snap the photo. The teenage girl flashed a peace sign, the boy grinned with his arms outstretched and the dad looked on while snacking from a Ziploc baggie.
"PROUD parent letting children carve names in tumalo falls hand railing," Nelson wrote in the Facebook photo’s caption.
Park officials hope that their internal investigation combined with the power of social media will lead them to the vandals. The California family could face jail time or fines if they are caught, because defacing public property is a misdemeanor.
"I don't want any kind of ramifications toward the kids," Nelson told the newspaper. "That's not the message I'm trying to get across. I just want wrongdoing to be admitted and for us all to move on."
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