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Tagger Who Defaced SoCal Veterans Memorial May Have Bay Area Ties

VENICE (CBS) — Police say they have identified four of the monikers used by taggers who defaced the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in a Los Angeles neighborhood the weekend before Memorial Day.

A thick sheen of silver paint was painted over most of the 2,237 names of Vietnam War veterans on the memorial in the Venice neighborhood, CBS Los Angeles reported. The vandalism was discovered on May 27, but police believe the defacement actually happened on May 26.

Michael Thibodeaux, a Los Angeles Sheriff's Department detective and graffiti and tagging expert, identified four monikers used in the vandalism: "NONER," "PHEB," "SNAKE," and "LITER." The "NONER" moniker has been linked to a tagging group based in the Bay Area, and its believed that a suspect might be a regular traveler between Los Angeles and Bay Area.

A reward of up to $30,000 is being offered by city and county officials for information leading to the capture and conviction of the suspects behind the memorial vandalism.

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