The Case of the Apologetic Graffiti "Vandlism"

They said they were sorry for spraypainting the building with graffiti.

How do we know?

For one, the apology was spraypainted on the building.

"Sorry about your door," goes the drippy, black spraypaint written on the snack stand door at Shelter Cove.

The multiple layers and colors of spray paint are sprawled across the blocks, the locked doors, the cement sidewalk.

The roll-down security gate to the snack window also was plastered with a series of messages from vandals who heavily spraypainted the small building at Shelter Cove Park's Barnegat Bay beach area. The building is used as a concession stand and also has public bathrooms, all of which are locked in the off-season.

There may be reason to believe, however, that the vandals aren't sincere about their apology. Not just because of the obvious irony but because there's one other message spraypainted there that isn't true.

"Free drinks inside," goes another spraypainted message, but it's just a tease. The snack stand has been closed since fall and the beach front isn't staffed until Memorial Day. If you saw the message and thought you could score a free soda, sorry, you've been fooled.

We also know the culprit's creative side includes humanizing inanimate objects, such as cigars, as is depicted in the spraypainted drawing of Mr. Black & Mild. The figure appears to be dancing or running, his four fingers outstretched, as he exclaims: "Weed!"

Finally, we have reason to believe the vandals may have hastily spraypainted their message, but stuck around long enough to realize that they had misspelled "vandalism." Their originally spelling, "vandlism," was missing its "a," which the author inserted after the fact.

It's unclear when the graffiti first appeared, but it has been there for at least a month, when it was first noticed.

Other than those observations, it's unclear as to who is behind the graffiti.  But if you have any ideas, try calling 732-349-0150.