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For more information or to get involved, call the graffiti hotline at (253) 835-2617. To report an act of graffiti in progress, call 911.

By MARGO HORNER

The Mirror

Armed with buckets and brushes, 75 Federal Way folks fought back against graffiti over the weekend during Operation Cover-Up.

On April 21, volunteers painted over graffiti on abandoned buildings, fences, sidewalks and utility boxes. They painted in shades of silver, putty brown, chocolate brown, gray and yellow.

Four locations were the focus of the effort: The abandoned Target and Toys ‘R’ Us buildings, Southwest 320th Street from 1st Avenue South to 21st Avenue Southwest, Southwest 340th Street from 21st Avenue Southwest to Hoyt Road Southwest, and 1st Avenue South through the city.

The areas were chosen based on citizen complaints and observations by a graffiti task force.

“This is where the majority of the problem is,” said Stacy Flores, police spokeswoman.

Over the weekend, the group removed “a huge portion” of the graffiti in Federal Way, Flores said. She wasn’t sure what percentage of the total graffiti was covered.

Although there are no specific dates planned yet, Flores said the graffiti task force will host similar clean-up efforts in the future.

Contact Margo Horner: mhorner@fedwaymirror.com or (253) 925-5565.

Thank you

On behalf of Operation Cover-Up, police spokeswoman Stacy Flores thanks the following groups for volunteering to paint over graffiti: City of Federal Way employees, the Federal Way Explorers, Todd Beamer High School students, Federal Way Church of the Nazarene, World Mission TaeKwonDo, Panda Express employees and other community volunteers. Paint was donated by Costco, Home Depot and Sherwin-Williams.

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