re: #16 elizajane

Two possibilities: 1) the inscriptions were not printable in a newspaper that might be seen by small children, or 2) the perpetrators were illiterate and their message could not be deciphered.

Third possibility—The inscriptions contained some distinctive phrasing or spelling that could link it to other incidents.

My money’s on a combination of all three.

“Don’t write naughty words on walls if you can’t spell”—Tom Lehrer, Be Prepared