As they say: “This is why we can’t have nice things.” Jokes aside (since there’s certainly nothing funny about vandalism), when three visitors to Joshua Tree National Park took a paintball gun to various signs and facilities, it was illegal.

The National Park Service (NPS) says it cited three German tourists for “firing paintballs at signs, bathrooms and dumpsters throughout Joshua Tree National Park on Aug. 4.” The maximum penalty is a $5,000 fine and/or up to six months in prison.

After a park ranger initially discovered the fresh yellow paintball splatter on structures and signs, law-enforcement rangers came to investigate further. They found a slingshot “in plain view inside a vehicle.” NPS says paintball markers and slingshots count as weapons, which NPS does not allow in its administered lands.

Law-enforcement rangers confronted the vehicle owners who admitted to firing paintballs with a compressed paintball gun/paintball marker the previous night.

“Defacing or altering the NPS landscape, no matter how small, is against the law,” said Joshua Tree National Park Acting Chief Ranger Jeff Filosa. “It diminishes the natural environment that millions of people travel the world to enjoy.”

Filosa adds that removing graffiti of all types requires time and resources that could go to other priorities. NPS says the park’s maintenance staff is cleaning up these visitors’ handiwork.

Here is an example of the recent vandalism at Joshua Tree:

Have you ever witnessed visitors doing something illegal at a national park?

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