One Vermonter on a nature walk recently noticed something that caused concern, and they took to the r/vermont subreddit to complain about it.
"Graffiti on 500 million year old rocks at Oakledge in Burlington," the poster wrote, captioning their photo of several spray-painted tags on a rock face.
The University of Vermont website confirms that some rock formations in the Rock Point Area date back 500 million years to the Cambrian Period, the era when most animal groups begin to appear in the fossil record.
"One of the most unique aspects of the Rock Point Area is the abundance of a type of calcium rich rock known as Dunham Dolostone," the UVM site says. "This dolostone is a type of calcium- and magnesium-rich limestone that was formed over 500 million years ago when the earth's plates looked very different from today."
Unfortunately, these ancient rock formations have been subjected to some fairly underwhelming graffiti tags. The other members of the r/vermont subreddit weren't impressed by the artistry on display.
"This is stupid for so many reasons," wrote one commenter. "All vandalism aside, how low does someone's standards have to be to think that tagging something unguarded and easy to get to is an accomplishment?"
"We may have some of the worst graffiti artists. I can't remember the last time I saw something that was worth looking at around Burlington," lamented another.
Vermont is famous for its beautiful natural surroundings, but not everyone who lives there seems to feel the same urge to protect and preserve that nature. As environments and ecosystems around the world are shrinking and under threat from human-caused pollution and other problems, it is especially important to approach any interaction with nature with a desire to leave it as good as or better than how you found it.
However, though nature should always be respected, as a few commenters noted, at least in this case, the rock face will not be permanently damaged by the graffiti taggers. "That stone will last much longer than the paint," one commenter pointed out. "Just know that nature will win in the end!"
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