Spray-painted phrases such as ""Go Pack"" we eat rams 4 lunch"" and profanities marred the brick paths near Rams Head Dining Hall on Thursday.
The graffiti" presumably painted by N.C. State University students" follows years of pranks leading up to athletic face-offs and met a mixed response.
""It wasn't terribly creative"" said Doug Dibbert, president of the General Alumni Association, as he read the markings. It seems to me there's a difference between vandalism and pranks that are not destruction of property.""
The UNC Department of Public Safety was alerted to the incident around 7 a.m. and is investigating the crime" spokesman Randy Young said.
Officers patrol campus each night but Young said he did not know what time the painting might have taken place. Any students with information should call public safety at 962-3951.
UNC Building Services could not be reached to say how or when the graffiti will be removed. The paint remained on the paths Thursday evening.
Early Wednesday morning 16 Carolina Fever members painted N.C. State's Free Expression Tunnel blue — which is legal.
In February the Old Well was quickly repainted after it was splashed with red paint the day of a UNC-N.C. State basketball game.
In 2005 the N.C. State logo was painted on the Bell Tower and other parts of campus" and the vandals were apprehended.
Thursday's retaliation disappointed UNC senior Jade Verheije.
""I think it's taking it too far" she said. It's just a game" really.""
Sophomore Evan Watchempino" a transfer student from the University of California at Los Angeles said he barely noticed the words which blended in among the bricks.
He said the latest prank paled in comparison to the UCLA-University of Southern California rivalry where students would pull fire alarms or spray pepper spray at games.
N.C. State Senior Class President Adam Compton who comes from a seven-generation line of UNC graduates" called the vandalism childish.
""It's disappointing that State students or whoever it was would stoop that low"" he said. Go put up fliers. Go do something else instead of doing something where someone else is going to have to clean up after you. It's kind of immature.""
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
Red spray paint mars UNC
Bright red N.C. State symbols and phrases such as "Wolfpack Nation" adorn the brick pathways and wooden tables near Rams Head Plaza on Thursday. The graffiti was a response to the now-Tar Heel blue free expression tunnel on State's campus in Raleigh, painted by sixteen Carolina Fever members early Wednesday morning. The pranks over the past two days are in preparation for the UNC vs. State football game this Saturday.
