For the second time in less than a year, Kouts officials have to contend with repainting part of the water tower on the town’s north side after it was defaced with graffiti, which included a vulgar image several months ago and a racial slur painted over the weekend.

The paint job will have to wait because of the weather, officials said.

“We had someone crawl up there in late spring or early summer and paint something on it, so it’s the second time that it’s happened,” said Town Council President Tim Jones, added the graffiti last year was an obscene drawing.

Beyond the vandalism and danger of climbing the tower, which Jones said is about 60 feet high, with a ladder 25 feet off the ground, damage to the tower on Maple Street a few blocks north of Kouts Elementary School also jeopardizes the town’s water supply.

“Everyone has to understand that it’s a municipal water supply,” he said, adding that in addition to the illegality of climbing the tower, “if it’s compromised, it could affect everyone in town, or at least the north side of town, because that’s where we get our water.”

The damage cost $10,000 to repair last year, Jones said, adding that painting over the graffiti is impossible in the winter, though the town has someone hired to do it when the weather breaks.

He received a complaint about the graffiti Wednesday.

“It’s not something you can just hand over to a house painter and say, paint that, because it’s a highly trained individual,” he said. “No one is more outraged about what’s going on than the town council.”

With five full-time police officers, Jones said, catching someone while they are spray-painting graffiti on the tower would be difficult at best. He thinks whoever is doing the damage is waiting until the police aren’t around.

“We don’t have any crime so this is a big deal,” he said.

The case is under investigation and police are following up on leads, though they don’t yet have a suspect, said Police Chief Jim Smith. He can’t be sure the two instances are related.

The graffiti went up Saturday night or Sunday morning, Smith said, and he found out about it from a town council member who saw it.

He has been in contact with the street department about options for protecting the water tower from future vandalism, including a fence around the structure and/or a locked cage or cover for the bottom of the ladder.

Even reaching the ladder, he added, is “crazy” because it’s so high off the ground. “One less rung and you fall and you’re done immediately,” he added.

Anyone with a tip is encouraged to call the police department at 219-766-2332, or submit information via email or through the department’s Facebook page.

The department has received several tips so far, Smith said.

“Some of them are promising, some of them are not,” he added.

Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.