Horse marked with graffiti in unusual La Pine case

Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies are investigating an unusual string of graffiti vandalism in La Pine — incidents that included words and markings spray-painted on the side of a horse late this summer.

Back in August, a La Pine family came home to find their house, car and even horse tagged with graffiti.

The vandals left a message that read “Not Done.” Last week, the family found out just how true that warning message was.

James Merphy, the owner of a house on Greenwood Drive, sent NewsChannel 21 pictures of the August incident earlier this week, after we reported on a worrisome graffiti tagging on an rV parked on a Bend street.

As the photos showed, his daughter’s horse was written on, along with his 1958 Chevy sedan, which he referred to as his “pet.”

Merphy said Thursday he’d received a call from his son a week earlier, letting him know the vandals were back.

“Something has to slow down here,” Merphy said. “I hope it doesn’t come out bad, but somebody’s going to get hurt. Me or them, I don’t know which.”

The graffiti on the horse has since been removed.

Merphy led a tour around his house to show the new messages left for his family. Some of them are threats, including one note that says “Watch Out.”

Merphy said his son filed a police report on Saturday night, but he thinks it’s obvious who’s at fault.

“A 2-year-old could put two and two together and come up pretty good here,” he said. “It’s not that hard to figure out who’s doing it. Why there’s nothing going on about it, I don’t know.”

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office said there’s an active investigation regarding this situation.

Deputies also said they are aware of the cases of burglary and vandalism that happened in the same area over the summer. Arrests already have been made in those cases, they said.