A crackdown on ugly graffiti tags has begun in the Colne Valley.

West Yorkshire Police are hunting those responsible for the mystery black scrawls which are now blighting Cowlersley Lane and Manchester Road.

Placed there a few days ago, the graffiti is becoming a costly operation. Police said that costs to remove them are ‘spiralling out of control due to the sort of paint used.

The graffiti, which police are classifying as criminal damage, takes the form of tags, which are simple writings of the creator’s name and read ‘Burg’ and another indecipherable moniker.

Example photos of the graffiti, on a bus sign and on the sign of Taylor Funeral Service, have been posted onto Kirklees Rural’s Facebook page, in a bid to identify those responsible.

A tag on a sign on Manchester Road
A tag on a sign on Manchester Road

Commenting on photos posted, a police spokesperson said, “These tags have appeared (...) in numerous places.

“A stone sign for a Funeral Home has been defaced and the costs for removal are spiralling as it is proving difficult to remove.”

They also explained their choice to classify the graffiti as a criminal act instead of as a form of art.

The spokesperson said: “Many people defend graffiti as art, and we agree that in certain circumstances it can be.

“But this is not art, it’s criminal damage which is impacting on businesses and the community.”

Staff from Taylor Funeral Home did not wish to comment on the vandal attacks.

The crimes come after police patrols were stepped up in Golcar last October, after a series of vandal attacks and also follows a similar spate in Honley in 2012.

There, West Yorkshire Police provided funding through its i12 young people’s scheme, to create a designated graffiti wall on one side of Honley Cricket Club.