The most notable examples would be red for Bloods, blue for Crips and black for Surenos/Sur 13. Yes, those well-known gangs really exist right here in little old Winston-Salem.

“It’s not necessarily territory,” Walley said. “Sometimes it’s just them wanting to promote their gang. … It’s pretty primitive. They’re doing it super fast, under a minute, so it’s difficult to catch them. They tag and they’re gone.”

Usually, the gang taggers are kids enamored of gang life or trying to get in. They can start with magic markers on bathroom walls in schools. “We tell (school administrators) to look at their notebooks,” Walley said. “They practice on paper.”

Bartsy doesn’t fall into either camp. She (or) he is probably an unsupervised goof with a lot of free time available after dark. “Most likely wearing a hoodie, dark clothes and gloves,” Walley said.

While graffiti typically isn’t worth getting too worked up over — there are much better ways to use public resources — it does come with a cost.

A private property owner might have to fork over several hundred bucks to wash it off entirely. And when it involves public property, city time (and money) adds up quick.