LAS VEGAS, March 25 (UPI) -- National Park Service rangers allege an Arizona man used paintballs to vandalize four petroglyph panels and several rock faces in Nevada's Grapevine Canyon.
The 20-year-old suspect from Bullhead City, Ariz., was cited for allegedly leaving red and green paint on the Lake Mead National Recreation Area sights last week, the Las Vegas Sun said Wednesday.
The suspect is required to appear before a federal magistrate after receiving citations for defacing/disturbing an archeological resource, using and discharging a weapon, littering and vandalism, the newspaper said.
Rangers confronted the suspect, whose identity was not released, Friday after receiving a 911 call about two individuals shooting paintball guns in the canyon.
Rosie Pepito, the Lake Mead National Recreation Area's chief of cultural resource management, spoke out against the incident in what was described as a culturally important area.
"This area in particular is incredibly sensitive and sacred to the Native American tribes of the Lower Colorado River. It's unimaginable to think of someone having a paintball fight in the Sistine Chapel. However, from the perspective of local tribal members that's what happened here," Pepito said in a statement.
