SLO County rock formation vandalized with Nazi symbols. ‘We were disgusted’
When San Luis Obispo resident Jason Barroca drove up a familiar, tree-lined road on Saturday, he expected a peaceful camping trip in the Los Padres National Forest.
Instead, he and his partner were greeted by swastikas spray-painted onto a rock formation next to the road past Lopez Lake.
“We were disgusted,” Barroca said. “To see hate like that is very disturbing for us.”
The rock formation is about a mile from the gate on Hi Mountain Road, he said.
On a camping trip the weekend prior, Barroca saw “fairly old and pretty innocuous” graffiti on the rock with statements like “Joe loves Jane,” he said.
“It wasn’t anything hateful or horrible,” he said.
The new graffiti included swastikas, along with statements such as “F--- BLM,” “F--- the gays” and “Trump 2024” in red spray paint.
The statement “Kill Nazis” was also partly covered with red spray paint as if to scratch it out.
Meanwhile, traffic signs on Hi Mountain Road near Lopez Drive were defaced with Nazi symbols as well, according to San Luis Obispo County Public Works Department spokesperson Shelly Cone.
The Public Works Department will replace the vandalized signs “ASAP,” Cone said, but the agency is not responsible for cleaning up the rock formation as the land is either private property or owned by the Los Padres National Forest.
As of Tuesday morning, the district ranger for this area of the Los Padres National Forest was aware of the vandalism and arranging to remove it, according to agency spokesperson Andrew Madsen.
Typically, when the U.S. Forest Service receives a complaint, park rangers investigate the site as soon as possible and clean the graffiti on the same day, he said.
“Any kind of offensive graffiti is something we’ll hop on as soon as we can,” Madsen said. “It’s very unfortunate that something like that would happen.”
People can report vandalism by calling their nearby district office or the Los Padres National Forest headquarters at 805-968-6640, Madsen said.
Community aims to clean up graffiti
In the meantime, Barroca and his partner Jen Walters plan to organize a community cleanup of the vandalism this weekend.
“It’s great that the government can come out and clean this stuff, but why can’t we just come together and take care of this?” Barroca said.
So far, about half a dozen people have volunteered to help remove the graffiti, Barroca said, but they still need a large water source for power-washing the rock.
Folks interested in attending the cleanup efforts or supplying water can message Barroca on Nextdoor at bit.ly/3t0efvS.
“We just love and cherish this area, and we really want to do our best to take care of it,” Walters said. “We feel like it’s one of our hidden gems in the county.”
