After a month-long investigation, the Huntsville OPP has finally caught the vandals who were responsible for drawing graffiti on town signs and buildings.

“After nine complaints and 11 reported graffiti incidents from Aug. 13 to Aug. 22, five youths, who cannot be identified under the Youth and Criminal Justice Act, were found to be responsible for the damage,” stated Huntsville OPP constable Lynda Cranney.

Some of the buildings in town that were the subject of the graffiti, which often included the letters FSM, standing for flying spaghetti monster, were the Huntsville Place Mall, the Huntsville Curling Club, the Huntsville Forester, among others.

Cranney stated over the last two weeks, officers spoke to five youths, who have taken responsibility for the graffiti around town. All of the youth involved will be referred to the Alternative Measures for Youths in Muskoka (AYM), which is a program offered by the Family, Youth and Child Services. This program will afford these young people the opportunity to be responsible for their actions.

“Restorative justice approaches are seen as having the ability to prevent further offending and providing meaningful consequences,” stated Melanie Vey, AYM’s program co-ordinator. “In order to repair the harm caused, young people must face the persons they have harmed. Youth are encouraged to take responsibility for their harmful behaviour in a meaningful way, to gain insight into the causes of that behaviour and its effect on others, to change that behaviour and to be accepted back into the community.”