A man from Somerville, Mass., and his friend who went around the country this year removing typographical errors from public signs have been banned from national parks after vandalizing a historic marker at the Grand Canyon.Jeff Michael Deck of Somerville, and Benjamin Douglas Herson, of Virginia Beach, Va., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Flagstaff after damaging a rare, hand-painted sign in Grand Canyon National Park. They were sentenced to a year's probation, during which they cannot enter any national park, and were ordered to pay restitution.
Authorities said Deck and Herson, both 28, toured the United States from March to May, wiping out errors on government and private signs. While at Desert View Watchtower on the South Rim on March 28, they were accused of using a whiteout product and a permanent marker to deface a sign that's a National Historic Landmark.
An affidavit by National Park Service agent Christopher A. Smith said investigators learned of the vandalism from an Internet site operated by Deck on behalf of the Typo Eradication Advancement League, or TEAL. According to the Internet posting, TEAL members agreed to stamp out as many typos as they could find in public signage and other venues.
Federal prosecutors said Deck and Herson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to vandalize government property. In addition to being banned from national parks for a year, the two are barred from modifying any public signs and must pay $3,035 to repair the Grand Canyon sign.