Vandals turned another Southern California mansion into their graffiti canvas as a third abandoned property in an affluent community is targeted by taggers.
An empty home sitting on Stone Canyon Road in Bel Air has been riddled with graffiti as its owner looks to sell the property for $21.5 million. The realtor overseeing the listing, who wished to remain anonymous, told NBC4 vandals have continuously struck the home.
On Thursday, Bel Air security caught five people vandalizing the inside of the property, according to the realtor. She added that on Friday, a gardener also found five vandals inside the home yet again.
The Los Angeles Police Department said it has not received calls for that property.
It’s the latest home targeted by vandals who’ve begun a trend of going after empty mansions in multi-million-dollar communities.
A four-story mansion on the 7000 block of Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills has been repeatedly tagged, as has a second mansion on the 1700 block of North Sunset Plaza Drive. Both homes are owned by John Powers Middleton, whose father owns the Philadelphia Phillies.
After authorities declared the tagged mansion a nuisance in October 2022, they told the owner to build a fence to secure the property, but he didn’t. Alex Rozier reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Friday, Sep. 20, 2024.
In a statement, Middleton apologized to the city and his neighbors for the nuisance.
“What’s happened to the two properties I own is unacceptable, and no matter what caused it, I own the houses,” his statement read.
As for the property in Bel Air, it is unclear who owns that home. No detainments have been announced in connection with the vandalism there.
