"Hidden deep in the winding valleys of the Grand Canyon are thousands of painted and pecked images. These were made by countless generations of Native Americans who used the canyon as their canvas, to document their world and communicate the contents of their souls.

Recently, a National Park Service employee visited a rock art site known as the "Descending Sheep" panel, below the Grand Canyon's Glen Canyon Dam. Scratched into the artwork was the name "Trent." The employee had noticed a guided fishing boat there a little before. A quick-acting ranger found the boat downstream and the guide pointed him to Trenton Ganey of North Carolina. When confronted, Ganey told the ranger he defaced "Descending Sheep" because he thought it would be "cool."

Not cool. Ganey pleaded guilty to one felony violation of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act. He will pay $10,000 in restitution.

The last several months have seen an increase in reports of damage to America's most ancient art. In Idaho, two men were charged with spray painting an ancient panel in Hells Gate State Park. In Arizona's Agua Fria National Monument, unknown vandals damaged Native art with white paint and scrawled obscenities. In fact, this recent spate of wreckage represents a historic epidemic. Most rock art sites across the American West have been despoiled by modern graffiti, gang tags, and bullet holes."

Get the Story:
Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh: No, it's not "cool" to deface Native rock art (The Denver Post 3/14)