Community Abuzz Over ‘Heinous’ Graffiti Binge

Mill Valley Police and the Marin County Sheriff’s Office are investigating a graffiti binge throughout town over Memorial Day weekend and Tam High officials are trying to quash widespread rumors that the tagging was the result of a school-sanctioned “scavenger hunt.”

The graffiti, most of which came in the form of "SHT" (the initials for Tam High School in reverse), was reported throughout Tam Valley and the Sycamore area of Mill Valley, as well as scattered sightings in Almonte and on Throckmorton Avenue, according to Mill Valley Police Sgt. Paul Wrapp and a number of residents of those areas.

As the number of reports came in last weekend about the tagging, which reportedly occurred between Friday night and early Saturday morning, rumors quickly spread that it was connected to the annual Tam High “scavenger hunt,” an unofficial event for the past few years organized by students.

In an email to parents this week, Tam High Principal Tom Drescher sought to dispel those rumors and characterized the incident as the act of a few.

Drescher said that school administrators interviewed a number of students about the scavenger hunt and determined that while members of the junior class participated in a scavenger hunt over the weekend, the event did not involve tagging.

“There was no expectation that participants take part in the unfortunate vandalism which plagued your community,” Drescher wrote.

Many students, both juniors and seniors, expressed outrage “that the vandalism took place and believe it was not part of the scavenger hunt,” he added.

“What happened last weekend was horrible, and we hope those responsible are caught and punished for this heinous crime,” Drescher wrote.

Wrapp said police and the Sheriff’s Office are working together to pursue some leads but he declined to say definitively at this time that Tam students are the likely suspects. He noted that it is “end of the school year prank season” and warned that behavior which may seem funny can often be illegal and a “waste of valuable law enforcement resources.”