(A) Cemeteries; Places Of Worship: It is unlawful for any person to wilfully deface, mar, injure, destroy or remove any vault, tomb, monument, gravestone, memorial of the dead, church, synagogue, or any other structure consisting of a place of worship of any religion, sect or group or any part of any contents thereof, or any fence, tree, shrub or plant appurtenant thereto.
(B) Public Or Village Property: It is unlawful for any person to cut, injure, mark or deface any public building, sewer, water pipe, hydrant or other village property, or any tree, grass, shrub or walk in any public way or public park. This subsection shall not be construed to prohibit ordinary maintenance of parkway areas and sidewalks by adjacent property owners.
(C) Telegraph Poles: It is unlawful for any person to scratch, stencil or post placards or bills on any of the poles used for wires of the police and fire alarm telegraph, or in any other manner deface or injure the same.
(D) Graffiti Prohibited:
1. Graffiti Defined: For the purpose of this section "graffiti" shall be defined as any sign, symbol, marking, drawing, name, initial, word, diagram, sketch, picture, letter or any other inscription or drawing.
2. Graffiti Prohibited: It is unlawful for any person to place graffiti upon the surface of any structure or wall that is publicly or privately owned without the permission of the owner of the property. It shall be an affirmative defense to the alleged violation of the foregoing provision if such activity was undertaken with the prior written consent of the owner of the property, demonstrating that the owner was aware of the content and method of the graffiti to be placed on the structure or wall; however, no owner of property shall place or give permission to place on any property, real or personal, which is in public view any graffiti which incites violence by reference to gang or criminal activity, depicts or expresses obscenity by referring to sexual activity or contains defamatory material about a public or private person.
3. Removal Of Graffiti: The village hereby declares "graffiti", as defined in subsection (D)1 of this section to be a nuisance and as a nuisance, subject to abatement as provided herein:
(a) Upon written notification by the village, the owner of property upon which graffiti has been illegally placed shall remove the graffiti within ten (10) working days from the date of the notice.
(b) The village, upon notification of graffiti placed upon any village property, shall remove the graffiti within ten (10) working days from the date of the notification. The village also may remove graffiti from the exterior of private property if owners comply with the following conditions:
(1) Owners must inform the village of the presence of such graffiti and of their inability to remove it;
(2) Owners must prepay the village for the cost of the removal; and
(3) Owners must sign a statement authorizing removal by the village and must sign a release holding the village harmless from any claims or suits brought for damages pursuant to any chemicals or from the actions taken by the village or its employees to remove the graffiti.
If property owners do not request such removal as specified herein or do not remove the graffiti within the time specified, they shall be subject to the penalties listed in subsection (D)4 of this section.
(c) An extension of the time in which graffiti must be removed may be granted by the chief of police upon application of the property owner to the police department and a showing of cause. Cause shall include, but not be limited to: abnormal weather conditions, availability of chemicals, or physical limitations of the owner. In no case shall an extension be granted which would extend the removal deadline more than thirty (30) days beyond the initial notification referred to in subsection (D)3(a) of this section. (Ord. 92-2298, 8-3-1992)
4. Penalties: Upon a finding of guilty for violation of subsection (D)2 of this section, there shall be imposed a fine as established by Title 1, Chapter 20, “Fees, Fines, Insurance, Guarantees, and Regulatory Measures”. Upon a finding of guilty for a violation of subsection (D)3 of this section, there shall be imposed a fine as established by Title 1, Chapter 20, “Fees, Fines, Insurance, Guarantees, and Regulatory Measures”. Additionally, the court may require that the party guilty of violating the provisions of subsection (D)2 of this section make full and complete restitution to the village and/or the owner of the property for expenses incurred in the removal of the graffiti and/or restoration of the structure or wall to its previous condition. In addition, the court may order as further penalty, community service in the form of time to be spent in cleaning property that has been defaced by graffiti in any location in the village. (Ord. 98-2948, 1-19-1998; amd. Ord. 2021-4921, 9-20-2021)