Littering and vandalism complaints are putting an end to a tourism destination near Centralia.

In just three days, nationally recognized Graffiti Highway will be no more.

Heavy equipment was operating Monday to bulldoze and bury nearly a mile of the abandoned Columbia County roadway. After the highway is completely obscured, trees and grass will be planted and barriers put in place to keep anyone from entering.

According to a local official, the steep mountainside stretch of what was once a four-lane highway, Route 61, has fallen victim to escalating complaints of vandalism, littering and general liability issues.

“It’s going to be buried and thank God,” said Tom Hynoski on Monday. Hynoski is Centralia’s fire chief and Emergency Management Agency director.

The highway has been closed since 1993 due to an underground coal seam fire. The accidental fire began 1962, a tragedy that eventually decimated the small community but at the same time created the famous Centralia legend of a burning ghost town.

While littering and vandalism have been an ongoing issue in Centralia, the problem increased tremendously in the month since the national coronavirus quarantine took effect, said Hynoski.

It seemed many chose Centralia as a place to socially distance themselves. Despite warnings from the Trump Administration to avoid gatherings of groups of ten or more, hordes of people have been converging on Graffiti Highway.

The surge in visitors resuoted in increased problems, such as Route 61 jammed with cars parked alongside the road, said Hynoski.

The site also attracted ATV riders and off-road enthusiasts. The large amount of visitors has been an issue all along but lately even more so, said Hynoski.

“They’re here from New York, New Jersey and everywhere. They treat it like a dump. There are coffee cups, spray paint cans and beer cans all over the place. They ought to live here.”

Hynoski said visitors’ disregard for the land and private property is seen in the entire area, including St. Ignatius Cemetery located near Graffiti Highway.

“There is vandalism at the cemetery and at the Ukrainian Church.”

The destruction of Graffiti Highway by the property owner is the final chapter in the almost-surreal 58-year-old story of a mine fire that first claimed the town and then the road leading to it.

Old Route 61 was closed as a public road in 1993 after it twisted and buckled from effects of the blaze. The road was abandoned by the state and a new section of Route 61 was built through nearby Byrnesville to replace it.

However, visitors and later graffiti artists began arriving at the old highway to spend time, drawn to the drama of smoke which could be seen pouring from cracks in the road.

In 2018, PennDOT vacated the land and turned it over to Pitreal Corporation of Exeter Avenue in West Pittston. The firm is a coal mining company and subsidiary of Pagnotti Enterprises of Wilkes-Barre, in charge of completing the current land-moving project.

The work is expected to take three days. Hynoski said Graffiti Highway will be gone by Wednesday, weather permitting.

The site is posted private property, he said, and has been posted all along, but visitors largely ignore the warnings.

That, however, will change, said Hynoski. State police are maintaining a presence near Graffiti Highway to turn away those who try to enter, said Hynoski.

“Don’t come around here now or you’ll be arrested.”

Once a town of more than 2,000, Centralia today has only a handful of houses, a municipal building, a few cemeteries, and the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Per a recent court ruling, the remaining six residents are allowed to stay until they pass away, after which the state will take ownership of their houses and likely tear them down.