A Winnipeg woman is trying stop what she calls an "ongoing frustration" by posting security camera footage of a man spray-painting her building; the video was viewed more than 90,000 times by Monday.

Katherine Peters owns 2145 Portage Ave., where she plans to expand her home-care business. She also rents space to other businesses.

Around the beginning of October, she had five or six HD-quality security cameras installed, which allows her to monitor activity from home, work or on her phone, by way of an app.



On Oct. 12, Peters' husband, who manages the building, noticed graffiti on the back of the building.

Graffiti spray painted onto 2145 Portage Avenue on Oct. 10. The man who installed the cameras reviewed the footage. Peters said he then edited together parts of the video and still shots leading up to when the graffiti appeared.

The footage shows a young man setting down a backpack to take out a can of spray paint. He then climbs the stairs and tags the building.

Peters first gave photographs of the young man's face to her husband, who distributed them around the building and surrounding areas. Peters was hoping somebody would say, "Oh my God. There's my face," she said.



Then, on Oct. 16, she published the photos, along with the video, to her Facebook page. The posts went viral, the video itself collecting more than 3,000 shares.

Katherine Peters published this photograph to her Facebook, without blurring out the person's face, on Oct. 16.

"People are just sick and tired of people getting away with stuff, and there's no action being taken," Peters said, noting she posted the video before filing a police report because she was hoping to get more information first.

"I'm not sure that it was really a decision. [not to call police right away]," she said. "I guess we figured the police wouldn't do anything about it unless they had a name, because they have enough to do, so the more we can help the police when we make the first submission, the better it will be."



In spite of all the views, they still don't have a name, she said.

Graffiti is a burden to taxpayers as the city removes it, Peters said.



For those reasons, Peters said showing the man's face in the video and photographs is fair.



"Everyone should be treated this way.... If they all got caught, they should face the consequences," she told CBC.



"At the end of the day, I just want the behaviour to stop. And if it's known that our building has cameras, hopefully ... [my building will] be less of a target."

Peters said she reported the incident to police Monday afternoon. Officers picked up a copy of the video and are looking into her complaint, she said.

Other business owners regularly hit with graffiti, too

Peters isn't the only businessperson upset about graffiti in the area.

Richard Wojcik, owner of Wojcik's Funeral Chapel on the same block, said he's fed up with it.

"We've been here almost 20 years and it's been quite disturbing for the past two. The graffiti has stretched along quite a few blocks of Portage Avenue. And especially with us owning funeral chapels, it's hard for us to cover that up before funeral services," he said.

Wojcik said his building has been tagged at least 10 times over two years.

He supports Peters putting the video on social media and is hopeful the tagger will be identified.

Tony Siwicki, owner of the Silver Heights restaurant a block away, said he gets hit with graffiti about once a month and it affects business.

"It looks like a gang came here. It looks bad," he said. "If [the business] looks beautiful, nice and clean, it's enticing for people to come in. Once you have spray paint all over your buildings, it gives the taste of old and abused and the wrong people come in."