Graffiti artist banned from national parks after vandalizing them

A New York-based graffiti artist was banished from national parks throughout the United States earlier this month, after a month-long spree in 2014 during which she drew paintings on protected rock formations. 

The artist, Casey Nocket, won't be allowed inside any national park for two years, and was given 200 hours of community service. She's also been ordered to pay a fine, though the amount won't be set until December.

Nocket used hard-to-remove acrylic paint in seven national parks, including Yosemite, Rocky Mountain National Park, Canyonlands, Death Valley, Colorado National Monument, Crater Lake and Zion. 

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Nocket's "work" was posted to Reddit in 2014, where a national parks official in Yosemite picked up on it. 

The culprit wasn't terribly hard to identify. Nocket tagged her paintings with her Instagram handle, Creepytings, and posted them to her Instagram and Tumblr accounts, both of which now appear to have been removed.

Modern Hiker published screenshots of Nocket's graffiti, taken from her Instagram and Tumblr accounts, and soon knowledge of the vandalism spread far and wide.

“This case illustrates the important role that the public can play in identifying and sharing evidence of illegal behavior in parks,” Charles Cuvelier, the head of law enforcement for the National Park Service, said in an online statement. “It is clear that the public cares deeply for the special places that the National Park Service represents, and the resolution of this case sends a message to those who would consider such inappropriate behavior going forward.”

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