Scenic Beam Rocks area in Forbes State Forest defaced by spray paint vandals

Officials are seeking information on vandals who spray painted graffiti at a popular natural overlook, Beam Rocks, along the border of Somerset and Westmoreland counties in Forbes State Forest.

A hiking trail off Laurel Summit Road leads to the sandstone outcroppings — some 90 feet tall — that provide adventurers with a panoramic view of rural Somerset County from atop Laurel Ridge in Lincoln Township. It has been a popular destination for hikers and rock climbers for decades.

In one spot, “Corona 2020” was painted. On another ledge, someone painted a reference to the late Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller, and another was defaced with “Trump.”

Photographs of the graffiti were posted on the Forbes State Forest Facebook page with an announcement that Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’s bureau of forestry is seeking help to identify the vandals.

“It’s just a shame. No matter how nice you try to make the rocks and trail leading to it, there’s always a few people who ruin it for others,” said Bill Repko, a retired Greater Latrobe high school teacher who has worked as a crew leader with the Loyalhanna Watershed Association’s Youth Conservation Corps to improve that area last year.

“It’s really a never-ending battle,” Repko said.

District Forester Ed Callahan said the scenic spot has been attracting large crowds during the last several weeks with the coronavirus pandemic “and a very small portion of those visitors are responsible.”

“One day this past weekend, we counted 28 cars and there just isn’t room for nearly that many cars up there. We’re happy people are getting out … but this vandalism is just disheartening when it happens,” Callahan said. “Honestly, even during July 4 weekends we’ve never had this many people visiting.”

Callahan said the damage has occurred over the past several weeks. He said the rocks were cleaned of graffiti just last fall by volunteer groups.

“It just got to the point we decided to put up the photographs. (The graffiti) has just gotten out of hand over the last few weeks,” he said.

Callahan said that although the photographs were only made public within the last day, the department of forestry has received “a lot of tips from the public.”

“We appreciate the help and our rangers will be following up with the leads. And we also intend to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law when the vandals are caught,” he said. “We also will seek restitution as part of the penalty.”

Anyone with information is asked to email the Forbes State Forest District office in Laughlintown at FD04@pa.gov. Clerical staff is not at the office to answer the telephones.

“It’s really a shame working alongside so many volunteer groups, who work so hard, to keep that area nice up there every year and then vandalism like this happens. It is truly disheartening and unnecessary,” he said.

Beam Rocks is not the only scenic spot recently vandalized. Graffiti was spray painted on hundreds of feet of sandstone rock along the Youghiogheny River in Ohiopyle State Park in February.

The paint covered hundreds of feet of sandstone bedrock on the Ferncliff side of the Main Falls Area — easily seen from the observation deck opposite it. That graffiti was removed.

No arrests have been announced in that case.

Callahan was uncertain when crews can do the cleanup at Beam Rocks due to the coronavirus pandemic, the remote location and costs associated with hauling water and chemicals to the site.

“It’s going to be awhile before we can clean it,” he said.