![\"Allyson](\"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Vandal1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nA visitor found graffiti and toilet paper on a popular trail near one of the park\u2019s iconic geologic formations<\/p>\n
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Allyson Mathis captured this image of the graffiti inside Arches National Park (Photo: Allyson Mathis)<\/p>\n
Updated November 7, 2025 11:58AM<\/p>\n
Allyson Mathis was taking her friend on a midday stroll through Arches National Park<\/a> on Wednesday, November 5, when the two spotted the unmistakable sight of graffiti.<\/p>\n High on a sandstone monolith overlooking the popular Devils Garden Trail, someone had jotted a series of letters \u201cGRUG\u201d in white spray paint. The paint was fresh, Matthis said.<\/p>\n Mathis, 59, is a retired National Park Service<\/a> worker who lives in nearby Moab. She wanted to get a better look at the vandalism and climbed a nearby rock outcrop to get a better vantage point. When she was near the paint, she looked back down. Her heart sank. More rocks were painted, with symbols, smily faces, the letters FNAF, and yes, additional \u201cGRUG.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was everywhere,\u201d she told\u00a0Outside.\u00a0\u201cIt was heartbreaking and upsetting, but unfortunately not surprising.\u201d<\/p>\n Matthis snapped photos of the vandalism, which she said is clear to see from the trail. She shared the images with the nonprofit group Coalition to Protect America\u2019s National Parks. In one of the photos, the iconic image of Landscape Arch\u2014one of the most popular geologic attractions in the western United States\u2014frames the white graffiti.<\/p>\n The vandalism at Arches National Park is the latest setback for the National Park Service amid the federal shutdown, which on November 5 became the longest in U.S. history. Across the service, rangers have been furloughed or forced to stay home, leaving huge swaths of the country\u2019s most beautiful and vulnerable backcountry unprotected to visitors. As of Friday, November 7, the shutdown had reached 39 days.<\/p>\n The shutdown started on October 1, and in the days afterward, multiple former NPS officials asked the government<\/a> to close the parks to avoid vandalism and damage.<\/p>\n In Yosemite National Park, visitors have taken advantage of the government shutdown to BASE Jump<\/a> off of El Capitan. There have also been allegations of illegal camping<\/a> in some campgrounds.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the type of thing that happens when you don\u2019t have the staff to protect parks,\u201d Emily Thompson, the executive director of the Coalition to Protect America\u2019s National Parks, told Outside.\u00a0\u201cThis is why we called on Secretary Burgum to close the parks if the government shut down.\u201d<\/p>\n Some state agencies and non-profit groups have stepped in to fund some services at parks. According to Utah News Dispatch<\/a>,\u00a0the state of Utah is chipping in $8,000 per day to keep its five national parks open and running.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But \u201copen and running\u201d doesn\u2019t cover all services. Mathis, who worked inside Grand Canyon National Park, said that while employees were stationed the main visitor center in Arches National Park, she saw no rangers out on the trails.<\/p>\n Vandals have left graffiti in national parks during normal stretches of park operations. In the past, graffiti has been discovered in the Great Smoky Mountains, Zion, Joshua Tree, Grand Teton, and Yosemite<\/a>, among other destinations.<\/p>\n But Matthis believes the graffiti in Arches is directly the result of the shutdown. It\u2019s located in\u00a0a well-trafficked area near an iconic destination. If the park were fully staffed, she said, vandals would have likely been scared off by patrolling rangers.<\/p>\n \u201cIf rangers were out on patrol, people might not have felt that they could vandalize the area,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Outside reached out to Arches National Park\u2019s public information officer, but a voice message said that the staffer was not allowed to work during the shutdown.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Vandal3.jpg\"\/)
Vandals hit Arches National Park sometime before November 5 (Photo: Cara Wilson)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/vandal2-scaled.jpg\"\/)
The first graffiti that Allyson Matthis saw (Photo: Allyson Mathis)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/VAndal6.jpg\"\/)
Walking a dog on trail in Arches National Park is not allowed (Photo: Allyson Mathis)<\/p>\n