It is the purpose and intent of the City Council of the City, through the adoption of this chapter, to provide additional abatement and enforcement tools to protect public and private property from acts of vandalism and defacement; especially, but not limited to, graffiti on privately and publicly owned property, which is inimical and destructive of the rights and values of private property owners as well as the total community. The majority of those individuals who paint graffiti seek notoriety and recognition as they attach status to having their work seen. Prolonged visibility due to the sheer volume, scale and complexity of the graffiti, and placement of the graffiti in hard-to-reach places, enhance the perpetrator’s satisfaction. Therefore, the swift removal or painting over of graffiti in combination with criminal prosecution of the persons who create it is the most effective way of combating this very serious problem. It is further the intent of the City Council, through the adoption of this notice to all of those who callously disregard the property rights of others, that the law enforcement agencies of the City, both the Police Department and the prosecutor’s office, will strictly enforce the law and severely prosecute those persons engaging in the defacement of public and private properties. (Ord. 2997 § 1, 2005; Ord. 2496 § 1, 1992; Ord. 2337 § 2, 1989; Ord. 1924 § 1, 1980).