Police have revealed that the historic building that was defaced by vandals over the weekend was the Rossdale Water Treatment Plant.

The incident first came to light on Monday after the Twitter account associated with Edmonton’s police helicopter sent out a tweet about arresting two suspects tagging a historic building early Saturday morning, but police wouldn’t reveal which building had been hit.

Assisted patrol members with the successful arrest of two suspects graffitiing a historic building last night. They unsuccessfully tried to hide in some bushes, thanks to our technology we safely directed members to their hiding spot and have excellent evidence for court. — EPS Air 1 (@EPS_Air1) October 6, 2019

On Tuesday, police announced that two people had been charged in the incident and revealed more details.

Officers were called to the water treatment plant around 4 a.m. on Saturday after receiving a graffiti complaint. When they arrived, they found two men scaling a nearby fence.

Police say the men ignored the officers’ instructions to stop, and fled on a nearby foot path before hiding in some bushes.

Air 1, the police helicopter, was summoned to the area and was able to locate the suspects.

Keaton James Bjorklund, 23, and Eric Ellison Hatcher, 22, have each been charged with mischief under $5,000.

On Monday, Chief Dale McFee responded to those who criticize the use of police resources on graffiti.

"There are those people that would say, 'Why are police responding to graffiti? You're chasing graffiti, that's just art.'

"Well that's art until it destroys somebody's property and building and costs them hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix it."

In this case, police say the suspects sprayed the south wall of the pump house and security lighting.