Council cracking down on graffiti with new ordinance

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Los Angeles City Council approved a motion Tuesday to draft an ordinance that will keep graffiti off city streets.

The ordinance will increase the fines from $250 to $2,000 for those who deface murals. It will also increase the reward money offered for information leading to the capture and conviction of vandals from $1,000 to $2,000.

The council instructed the city attorney to draft the ordinance. The measure aims at preventing the city's culturally significant murals from being damaged.

The city sets aside $.172 million to restore the murals, and the graffiti takes a long time to be removed.

City News Service contributed to this report