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Boston Public Library Vandalized With Graffiti

BOSTON (CBS) -- Vandals covered the outside of the Boston Public Library with graffiti overnight, upsetting both library employees and passersby in Copley Square who saw the aftermath.

The graffiti stretched from one end of the building on the Dartmouth Street side to the other. Crews were able to clean up the mess by 10 a.m. Wednesday morning.

"Its kind of sad that someone would take the risk of doing that," Mark Elgey said while walking by the main branch on his way to work.

Joseph Disessa, the library's foreman painter, said he's never seen anything like this in his 26 years on the job.

"I come in this morning to this nightmare," he said.

Employees of the library and the city's self proclaimed Graffiti Busters had the graffiti gone in just over an hour. They say the criminal made the cleanup easy.

"The can of spray paint from the graffiti was in the trash, they left the can of metallic spray paint here so on the back of the can it said 'use mineral spirits' and it's coming off like a charm," Disessa said.

Police said they got the call around midnight that the public library had been tagged with graffiti. The caller described the culprit as a black male wearing a gray hoodie and a red hat. Police haven't made any arrests, they're working with nearby businesses to obtain security camera video.

bpl clean
Graffiti at Boston Public Library was cleaned up Wednesday morning (Photo credit Carl Stevens/WBZ NewsRadio 1030_

Boston residents took to social media to blast the act of vandalism.

"This library was built, dedicated to the advancement of learning," one onlooker told WBZ NewsRadio 1030. "This is a slap in the face to everyone."

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports:

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