Social media tracks ‘punks’ who vandalized student art

Ben Moon figures he spent up to 50 hours crafting a mural, which was then destroyed along with two others by vandals who invaded the Alberta College of Art and Design (ACAD).

But he said a surveillance camera photo of five young male suspects released by ACAD security — and the resulting social media hunt it fuelled — paints a troubling picture for the offenders.

“I’m pretty good with social media, so when these guys smashed my art, I said, ‘you guys messed with the wrong person,’ ” said Moon, a third-year painting major at ACAD.

The five were captured by the security camera on Thursday at around 10:30 p.m., the same night Moon’s photo-3D sculpture titled Us was smashed and two adjacent photo works splashed with paint.

The works were hung in a main hallway in the ACAD complex and were produced for a final grade in the photography 217 course, said Moon.

“I was always respectful of other peoples’ property, so I think they need a good spanking from somebody,” he said, referring to the vandals as “punks.”

“I put a lot of energy into this piece.”

Moon figured he could have sold his piece for about $500, but added the other two works, which he described as “amazing,” were probably worth more.

Fortunately, he said, they’d already been graded, though the art pieces likely aren’t salvageable.

With the suspects’ image going viral after it was released to ACAD students’ email accounts, Moon said he’s received help in identifying possibly three of those in the photo, along with some Facebook profiles.

“Another person also messaged me saying that he is positive he can identify two of the people in the photo, and that he’s contacted ACAD security with the information,” said Moon.

The information has also been passed on to police.

“It’s blown up on social media, it’s certainly being investigated,” said Const. Jason Sexsmith of the Calgary Police Service.

He couldn’t say if there have been any arrests in the case.

Moon said he also wants tighter security measures imposed by ACAD.

“I want ACAD to address this in the future so it doesn’t happen again,” he said.

But Moon said he’s happy the college is taking the incident seriously.