The Bristol Police Department is looking into an uptick in public vandalism incidents, occurring largely in the main downtown areas of Hope Street, from the Bristol Post Office all the way down to Poppasquash Road.

“There were some electrical boxes, A/C heat pumps, bus stop coverings, dumpsters that were discovered to have tagging on it,” said Major Brian Burke, who said many of the reports happened between Dec. 6 and Dec. 9. “On one of the locations we did find a magic marker, which was seized as evidence. Right now our detectives are working on the case.”

Burke said that while some of the tagging seemed to be consistent in its style and writing, it couldn’t be determined if one person or multiple people were responsible for the crimes. Each incident of vandalism is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail.

Burke said that the property tagged is all located close to the sidewalk, which provides a quick opportunity for the act to happen.

“It's items that were close to the roadway, so to speak, so they're not walking through someone's yard to get to something. It's items that are easily accessible right from the sidewalk,” he said. “It takes probably a couple of seconds to do what they're doing.”

While Burke said that property owners have all been cooperative in turning over evidence such as surveillance tapes to police, which are being reviewed, he said that members of the public can lend a hand in identifying and catching the perpetrator, or perpetrators.

“We ask anyone who sees anything suspicious in the area to please give us a call immediately and try to get a description of what they're wearing,” he said. “If you can see what direction they're traveling, that would be very helpful.”

The department put out a Facebook post asking for help, which Burke said can come in many forms.

“We’re asking the public if they know of anyone who uses such tags to let us know,” Burke said. “They can drop a tip through the Tip 411, they can call the police station and leave anonymous details, they can call the police’s detective division or send us an email. We have multiple ways for the public to reach us to let us know if they have any knowledge of anyone who is doing this.”