Locals, visitors upset with graffiti at popular Phil’s trailhead west of Bend

(Update: Adding video, comment from trail users, Forest Service)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- For the last few years, Alex Rebielak has found a special getaway on the Deschutes National Forest, near Phil’s Trail west of Bend.

“It's just a place, you know, for positive recreation in a community of mountain bikers who I thought are second to none in any sport,” the mountain biker from Portland told NewsChannel 21 on Monday.

But when he arrived at the trailhead west of Bend on Monday, something was off.

There was graffiti all over the trailhead displays, at one of the most popular trails in the Bend area, and the bathrooms as well.

 “It’s just a shame someone doesn’t respect that,” Rebielak said.

Deschutes National Forest Public Affairs Officer Jean Nelson-Dean said the Forest Service is unsure just when the trailhead was vandalized.

“It doesn't seem to have any direct connection to anything going on in the Phil’s Trail area. It just looks like straight up vandalism,” she said.

The information panels are also special to the trail. Nelson-Dean said it took collaboration and donor funding to get them put up.

“This isn’t stuff we get to have every day,” she added.

Locals at the trailhead on Monday told NewsChannel 21 about how upset the crime makes them.

Anthony Zerbe, a frequent Phil’s Trail mountain biker said, “It just kind of broke my heart to see it out here in nature, where we come to get away from the concrete playgrounds and stuff.”

Longtime Phil’s Trail user Angel Speranza added, “It was very disappointing, again, to just come and be like, ‘Oh, I thought we were better than this.’”

Those seeing the trail for the first time, like Tommy Poehling, were surprised.

 “We travel all over and do a lot of hikes, and we've never seen anything like this,” said Poehling, who was visiting from Texas.

Nelson-Dean said there is no lead on suspects, but Rebielak offered compassion toward them.

 “I'm thinking these are just kids seeing what they see,” he said. “And just kind of finding a weird outlet, I would say.”

Nelson-Dean said anyone with information about the vandalism should contact the Forest Service or the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office.

The vandalism also has sparked plenty of discussion on Reddit's Bend subreddit.