Graffiti was discovered in the back of the school around 6 a.m. this morning. According to Principal Wynne Satterwhite and Assistant Principal Ralph Cave, the graffiti was gang-related in nature and probably occurred sometime last night.
The graffiti tagged the school vans, the school handball courts, the gym, one of the trees, the sidewalk and the memorial stones next to the back field.
According to Cave, the graffiti was discovered by the school’s Head of Maintenance and Operation Mike Woodworth. The Los Altos Police Department (LAPD) then dispatched Officer Neal Randles to take a case report.
Satterwhite broadcast an announcement during sixth period addressing both the recent vandalism and the theft of the star and “L” from the Los Altos High School sign in the main parking lot. The latter incident occurred on the evening of Friday, November 14.
In the announcement, Satterwhite explained that the school is offering a $1,000 reward to any student who can provide information that will lead to a “conviction” for either incident.
According to Satterwhite, the school had previously been trying to deal with the theft of the letters with the assistance of the police. However, the investigations of both incidents have now been turned over to the LAPD.
According to School Resource Officer Mark Laranjo, the police currently have no active leads regarding the graffiti incident. However, any leads that the police do obtain will be “investigated through prosecution.”
In the event that they are not retrieved, Satterwhite said that the cost of replacing the stolen letters will come close to $1,200, not accounting for the price of installation.
Satterwhite does not believe that last night’s incident is linked to the graffiti that was found in the boys bathroom of the 300 wing during fifth period yesterday. She described the graffiti in the bathrooms as a trend that has been going “on and off.”
“I was very disappointed about the vandalism,” Satterwhite said. “This is our home, and we need to take care of it.”
The majority of the graffiti was removed sometime past 7 a.m.
