An increase in graffiti vandalism over the past few weeks has Tamaqua residents angry and last night four teenagers were seen in the act but escaped capture.

At 9:45 p.m., resident Jeremiah Cotton saw four teenagers vandalizing a neighbor's property located at the intersection of Mauch Chunk Street and Schuylkill Avenue. Despite the quick response from the police, the vandals got away."Tamaqua is a beautiful place. What motivates these kids to make it ugly?" Cotton asked.Although the culprits escaped, Cotton was able to provide good descriptions. He said there were three white boys and one girl. The girl was estimated to be 5 feet, 4 inches tall, with mid to dark hair, wearing jean shorts and a light colored thin "spaghetti strap" shirt.One male teenager doing the vandalizing was described as being just under 6 feet tall and having an average build, narrow face, thin-style haircut and wearing a red bandanna around his head. Another male teenager was described as being about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, not wearing a shirt and having an above average build. The third teenage boy was estimated to be around the same age as the others, between 14-19.The vandals left the initials LB or L3 with a thick silver marker on the side of the building. Those same letters were found in previous days at over two dozen other locations throughout Tamaqua.Comments on Facebook concerning this vandalism spread like wildfire."People are ridiculous. I don't see what they can possibly gain from doing that. It's so pointless and ignorant," said one comment."If they're craving attention, I hope they get their wish ... attention from the police and the court," said one male Tamaqua resident."Telling their parents won't do any good," said another responder. "Either the parents don't care or they taught these low-lifes they are entitled do what they please. If they are under 18, the parents need to be held just as accountable. Hopefully the court system doesn't worry about their rights but more about the rights of the people whose property they ruined."Members of the Tamaqua Volunteers group will spend time over the next few days cleaning some of the graffiti.Anyone with information concerning the vandalism is encouraged to call the Tamaqua police at (570) 668-5000.