Ancient petroglyphs carved into volcanic rock outside Bishop in the eastern Sierra were recently damaged by vandals, and federal authorities want to bring the wrongdoers to justice.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is offering a $1,500 reward for information on the people responsible for damaging the petroglyph panels in the 36,000-acre Volcanic Tablelands in Owens Valley. The carvings depict bighorn sheep, bisected circles and at one site, a miner swinging a pickax.
“Those responsible have destroyed an irreplaceable part of our national cultural heritage,” Bishop Field Manager Sherri Lisius with the Bureau of Land Management said in a statement. “We have increased surveillance of our sites and are determined to bring the responsible parties to justice.”
The vandals damaged the petroglyphs at three locations within the rock art site, which is protected under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act and listed in the National Register of Historic Places, according to officials. Violating the federal law can lead to felony charges, with fines up to $20,000 for first-time offenders and up to two years in prison.
There was no immediate information about the damage. Officials shared images of what appeared to be a chipped rock face at the ceremonial site.
The petroglyphs can be found on volcanic tuff formations formed over 760,000 years ago when a large eruption released hot ash that settled over the region. The Paiute-Shoshone Indians later chipped away at the red pumice stone, which exposed the lighter rock minerals underneath, according to the Bureau of Land Management.
The carvings are considered sacred sites to the tribe, but this is not the first time people have gone through and disturbed the area.
In 2008, Cal State Northridge paid over $25,000 to settle a case that involved the unauthorized drilling of dozens of 1-inch holes on federal land.
In 2021, Caltech agreed to pay over $25,000 to the Department of the Interior to cover the costs of repairing damage caused by a faculty member and students who drilled into a rock face roughly three feet from a petroglyph. The geoscientists left behind 29 1-inch diameter holes marked with blue paint, and Caltech apologized for the blunder.
Anyone with information about the recent vandalism can contact WeTip at (800) 78-CRIME (782-7463), or report online at www.wetip.com.
