ANCHORAGE — Officials in Anchorage are trying to figure out how to go about cleaning graffiti off a monument along the city’s Delaney Park Strip, as getting paint off the historic steam locomotive could prove to be more difficult than usual.
It is not yet clear when the graffiti was painted, but what appears to be the word “AMEN” could be seen in large letters along the locomotive Tuesday.
Maeve Lavter with the city Parks and Recreation Department said normal methods for cleaning graffiti may not be suitable for the train because of a sealant put on Locomotive 556 when it was restored about two years ago.
“The paint that we used on the train is a very special paint, and the graffiti may not come off with our normal graffiti cleaner kit,” said Lavter, senior park planner.
Lavter was one of the people that oversaw the restoration project, which was the result of a fundraising campaign that raised more than $250,000. Although short of the initial $1 million goal, the money was used to bring the train back to acceptable public standards.
The locomotive, which Lavter said was placed along the park strip in 1959, had begun to show signs of wear and tear by 2012 and was deemed a hazard by the Municipality of Anchorage.
“There were chunks of asbestos that were flying off of it, and it was all rusted out, so there was rust, and there was lead paint, and we couldn’t have people climbing on it, especially children,” Lavter said.
With all the work that went into restoring the historic steam engine, Lavter said she is disappointed that it was targeted by vandals.
“There’s that fine line between what’s destruction versus what’s artistic, and what’s an appropriate place for it,” Lavter said.
The locomotive, built in 1943 for wartime service, will need to be inspected to determine the best way to clear the paint. No timeline has been set for how long it will take to get removed, but Lavter said it will get addressed as soon as possible.
Police have launched an investigation into the incident.
