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Private Jets Tagged With Graffiti At Van Nuys Airport
Three separate multi-million-dollar corporate jets were tagged with graffiti at the Van Nuys Airport, and it's going to cost a pretty penny to clean them up.
According to NBC News, authorities believe the suspect, or suspects, entered the airport late Sunday or early Monday morning and cut a hole in the perimeter fence. The jets were tagged with the letters "URA" and the numbers "872" on their fuselages, tail wings and wheel flaps. Smaller tags sprayed in blue and black also included "URAF," "MarkB" and "GLOK$." The jets, which were kept in what airport police thought was a secure hangar, belonged to Fair Wind Air Charter, Private Air Inc. and Aerojet Services LLC.
"It is embarrassing," Los Angeles Airport Police Chief Patrick Gannon told the L.A. Times "It is not something we want to be happening at our airports."
Gannon said the area is known for playing host to a prominent tagging culture (particularly near the airport), and that the Van Nuys Airport police are working with LAPD graffiti experts to track down the culprits.
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While Gannon estimated it will cost a few thousand dollars to clean up two of the jets, NBC reported that one of the jets could cost more than a million dollars to fix.
This is the second time in two years that private jets at the Van Nuys airport have been vandalized by graffiti. In July 2013, a $2.3-million Learjet sustained $100,000 in damage when it was spray-painted with the word "flame" and "R.I.P."
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This work is only possible with community support. Every investigation, service guide, and story is made possible by people like you who believe that local news is a public good and that everyone deserves access to trustworthy local information.
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Thank you for understanding how essential it is to have an informed community and standing up for free press.
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