Police are looking for a couple who vandalized a Native American site in Illinois with a love heart containing their initials.
On Monday, a man and woman visited Starved Rock State Park and scribbled dark-hued messages on what is known as Council Overhang, a cavern-like formation on the east end of the park.
An image of the pair, apparently in their twenties, and the vandalism was posted on Instagram, which triggered an investigation by Illinois Conservation Police, the Journal Star reported.
Police are looking for a couple, (pictured), who vandalized a Native American site at a state park in Illinois with a love heart containing their initials.
‘Art is beautiful, but it is not meant to be carved drawn, or painted on natural features at state and national parks,’ Starved Rock and Mathiessen State Parks said in a statement.
It added: ‘Don’t be like John and Jane Doe pictured here who decided to paint on Council Overhang which is a 425 million-year-old sandstone formation at the park used for 8,000 years as a Native American gathering place.
‘One of our largest problems at the park are visitors who do not respect the parks trails, exhibits, buildings, interpretive panels on trails, and the natural sandstone features.’
Park Superintendent Kerry Novak told the Journal Star that a witness came into Starve Rock administration office on September 2 to report seeing two people deface the wall at Council Overhang.
They also claimed the pair took a picture of the graffiti and putting it on Instagram.
The Council Overhang is a 425-million-year-old sandstone formation at the park used for 8,000 years as a Native American gathering place
Novak then searched the social media platform himself and found the incriminating photo.
Novak said ‘they seemed pretty proud of it,’ and described the vandalism as ‘disrespectful’.
He added: ‘If you bring your family here, you want to see a beautiful natural area. You don’t want to see this sort of thing.’
He said he wasn’t certain what was used by them to scrawl on the wall. The photo appears to show ‘B+K’ inside a heart, but the other wording remains unclear.
Police have not yet confirmed whether the photo in the post is authentic.
Anyone with information on the incident on Labor Day is asked to call 815-667-4726.
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