Vandals deface boulder, more at Yosemite National Park. ‘Disgraceful’
Vandals scrawled graffiti on a boulder and other sites at Yosemite National Park, according to photos and video shared recently on social media.
Instagram user Ando Arakelyan posted a video to his Instagram story on Sunday, Jan. 25, showing photos of a large rock, a door and an informational sign at Bridalveil Fall with “Yeti” graffiti tags on them.
“What’s wrong with people,” wrote Arakelyan, known on Instagram as @ando2chill. “Should be $5,000 fine and 6 months in jail for people vandalizing national parks.”
Arakelyan has been sharing “real-time park conditions and year-round adventures” in the park since 2021, the content creator said on his Instagram page.
The Fresno Bee reached out to the National Park Service for more information, but had not received a response as of 3 p.m. Monday.
Graffiti reported at Yosemite National Park
Reddit user hetchyhetchy shared Arakelyan’s photos in the Yosemite subreddit on Sunday.
“Wasn’t there 3 days ago,” a Reddit user identified as roguej13 wrote in a comment. “So disrespectful.”
“Disgraceful,” Reddit user NTLTTG wrote.
Yosemite has history of vandalism
It’s been more than three years since Yosemite National Park saw significant vandalism.
Vandals spray-painted graffiti in blue and white paint at dozens of locations along the Yosemite Falls Trail in May 2022, The Fresno Bee previously reported.
Several of the tags clearly read “Fresno,” as well as a possible moniker of at least one of the taggers, The Bee previously reported.
National Park Service investigators partnered with several law enforcement agencies, including the Fresno Police Department, to generate leads on possible suspects in the case, the Bee reported at the time.
As of Monday, Jan. 26, no suspects had been identified and arrested.
The park has experienced similar graffiti before, including tagging on rocks, trees, buildings and signs, spokesperson Scott Gediman told The Bee in 2022.
Penalties for vandalism vary for federal and state charges, and can depend on what substance was used for the graffiti, whether it damaged plants or wildlife or caused some other form of damage, Gediman said.
Yosemite National Park is one of the most visited sites in the National Park Service system, attracting millions of visitors each year.
This story was originally published January 26, 2026 at 6:16 PM with the headline "Vandals deface boulder, more at Yosemite National Park. ‘Disgraceful’."
