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In a part of B.C. already renowned for its hard line on graffiti, Mounties are on high-alert after graffiti vandals struck a human target: A 48-year-old man passed out under a highway overpass.

The victim, who has not been named, had his face and stomach sprayed with purple paint. In addition, the assailant used a black marker to scrawl text on the man’s scalp.

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“I would expect any normal citizen who found someone in that condition would give us a call instead of spray-painting him,” said Sgt. Max Fossum with the West Shore RCMP, a detachment covering five municalities on the outskirts of Victoria.

In addition to being motionless at the side of a highway, the man was also soaking wet on a night in which temperatures in the B.C. community dipped close to freezing.

As in any graffiti case the investigation is greatly assisted by the fact that the vandal left their distinctive graffiti “tag” emblazoned on the man’s head.