SARNIA -- Cans of spray paint in the hands of vandals are creating a headache for community leaders who dislike graffiti.

A dramatic increase in graffiti on public and private property had prompted Mayor Mike Bradley to call for action.

He said yesterday he wants city staff to examine what other cities are doing to combat graffiti and bring a report back to council.

"A number of other communities have taken action to meet the response to graffiti and seek different penalties to deal with what is community vandalism," Bradley said.

Incidents of graffiti have been increasing for at least a year.

Sarnia police Const. Bill Baines said you'd be hard-pressed to find a neighbourhood in the city that doesn't have some graffiti.

"It's one of those difficult issues to deal with," he told The Observer. "You pretty much have to catch the person in the act."

Graffiti is an expensive form of mischief and puts an unfair financial burden on property owners, Baines added.

Roland Peloza knows how expensive it can be.

The north wall of his downtown store The Cheeky Monkey has been hit numerous times. "It's not even art, it's just scribbles and nonsense," Peloza said.

He painted over the vandalism, but didn't repaint the entire wall because of the cost involved. Instead, he painted "different coloured blotches" and the vandals have left the building alone since.

"Maybe there's an unspoken rule that you don't tamper with another artist's work and they think my wall is a work in progress. At any rate, we've noticed an increasing amount in the downtown area since the (road) construction.

"Less traffic gives them more opportunity, I guess," Peloza said. "Even the mail boxes and the new street poles have been grafittied."

Peloza has heard some cities impose age restrictions on who buys spray paint. That might be an answer, he said.

On Monday, the new splash park pump house in Corunna's Athletic Park was vandalized with graffiti. Police are looking for suspects.