Two years ago in Arches National Park, vandals chiseled the name “ANDERSEN” across nearly six feet of one of the park’s namesake features, Frame Arch.

Deeply incised graffiti such as this often requires the use of power grinding and a skilled operator to “erase” the damage. But park officials did not want to grind away a 6-foot-long, ¾-inch-deep area of Frame Arch, destroying a large portion of what nature took so long to create.

Fortunately, treatments to reclaim deep graffiti continue to be developed. Two methods include infilling with a mixture of ground sandstone and an acrylic bonding agent and in-painting with organic pigments. Learn more in this Ranger Minute video from Arches National Park.

In October 2017, after studying the damage and carefully matching colors, park staff began partial infilling and in-painting on Frame Arch. They monitor these test repairs to confirm the infill is holding in place and colors have not faded. They hope to complete repairs by this summer.