A statue of a cougar on Brigham Young University’s campus was vandalized Saturday morning, and police say the suspects were literally caught red-handed.
The statue, near LaVell Edwards Stadium, was spray-painted with two red “U” logos the morning of the football game between rivals BYU and Utah. BYU police Lt. Steven Messick said a witness saw a group vandalizing the statue about 4:50 a.m.
“Our officers did a great job and hustled right down,” Messick said. “The cougar had been spray-painted.”
BYU cougar statue outside LaVell Edwards Stadium vandalized with red Block U symbols. Crews working to clean it up. #UTAHvsBYU #BYU #Utes pic.twitter.com/U1V3puwOey
— Utah Sports Page (@UTSportsPage) September 9, 2017
Soon after, police questioned four people in a vehicle near the area.
Among the clues that led officers to believe they had found their suspects: The group had red paint on their hands.
“They smelled like spray paint and they had a stencil of a block letter U in the car,” Messick said. “They admitted to vandalizing the statue.”
Police cited the four people with misdemeanor criminal mischief and released them. By Saturday afternoon, the paint had been removed from the cougar statue.
Cougar cleans up well. 4 🤡s from up north apprehended. Literally caught "red handed" with red paint on hands by BYU's finest. #dumbcriminals pic.twitter.com/27GmbTArSj
— Tom Holmoe (@TomHolmoe) September 9, 2017