It’s art – until it’s not.

A graffiti perpetrator has taken their artistic ideas too far and is spooking the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater campus.

The graffiti features a face with the eyes crossed out and occasionally has a crown. The word ‘soon’ is featured with the drawing and occasionally a date is included. The drawings were spotted in and around a number of buildings such as in bathrooms, on chairs and at other high-traffic locations across the university grounds.

University Center Facilities Coordinator Jay Craggs said the building doesn’t typically see a lot of graffiti, but this case has occurred multiple times in the UC alone.

“This has been the most frequent case of graffiti that I can recall,” Craggs said.

UW-Whitewater Police Services Chief Matt Kiederlen said students and staff shouldn’t be concerned.

“It’s what I would refer to as tagging,” Kiederlen said. “Because this is in the proximity of what happened in Florida, we have a heightened awareness, but there is nothing or anyone on our radar that would be of serious concern or cause a heightened sense of security at this time.”

Kiederlen said the graffiti has been happening for weeks prior to the shooting that left 17 people dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, but the event may have caused the person creating the graffiti to do it more often.

“It’s just an unfortunate reality that someone is doing it at this time,” Kiederlen said. “We think that they may be doing it because it is getting so much attention.”

The department does not plan to increase security at this time.

“People should always be aware of their surroundings, but there is no active threat to campus at this time. We would, however, appreciate the public’s help in identifying the individual responsible for the graffiti,” Kiederlen said.

Those with information should contact Walworth County Crime Stoppers. Text your tip to “CRIMES” (274637) and begin your message with tip4wc followed by the tip.

If a tip leads to an arrest and/or conviction, there may be a cash reward available for the person responsible for the tip.