LEWISTON – In the big cities, graffiti is known as the newspaper of the street. For local police and business owners it’s more of an unruly menace.

A scourge of graffiti has appeared in recent weeks on the sides and backs of buildings in both Lewiston and Auburn. As soon as fresh paint goes up in a new location, another person or group comes along to deface it with graffiti.

“It’s everywhere,” said Diane Meservier, who works at Drapeau’s Costume Shop on Lisbon Street in Lewiston. “It’s terrible. I wish they could catch them.”

Police in the area feel her pain. For two weeks, they have been trying to catch those responsible for tagging all over the city, according to Lewiston deputy police Chief Michael Bussiere. The suspects so far have hit businesses all across downtown Lewiston. They have spray-painted inside parking garages and on the roof of the Bates Mill complex facing Main Street. To accomplish that feat, the tagger had to scale a fence topped with barbed wire and then climb a caged ladder to the roof.

In Auburn, more taggings have appeared around Great Falls Plaza.

When the fresh batch of graffiti began to appear, it was in the form of one word. In several locations, the word “Evidence” showed up in a variety of colors. The word “Evolve” also began to show up.

The graffiti is written in simple script in some places, painted more ornately in others. Both “Evolve” and “Evidence” are written consistently with backward E’s at the end.

Police have not said if they believe the same person is responsible for both words. It was unknown if “Evidence” and “Evolve” are street names or cryptic clues. Whichever the case, other graffiti artists do not seem to approve.

Along Canal and Lisbon streets in Lewiston, those two words or names have been painted over. In several instances, “Evidence” and “Evolve” have been defiled with profanity.

In the unwritten code of street graffiti, writing over or defacing another tagger’s work is meant as a display of disrespect.

Denise LaFlamme doesn’t know what it all means. But she knows she doesn’t like it on the back and side of Drapeau’s, a business she recently purchased.

“It really bothers us,” LaFlamme said. “On the back of the building, it says “Murder House.” That really irritates me.”

Around the corner, on the side of Lamey-Wellehan, “Evidence” has been crossed out by lines of red spray paint. Beneath it, the words “Murder go Round” appear. The same wall is marked by several incidents of profanity written in green.

More graffiti has appeared on the side of a Park Street club in Auburn, on the back of a Lisbon Street bank, and on the sides of other businesses along Bates Street.

One Lisbon Street pawnshop repainted its outside wall after it was hit by taggers. A short time later, new graffiti appeared in the same spot.

It is not clear how or when somebody climbed to the roof of the Bates Mill and spray-painted there. Police believe “Evidence” and “Evolve” were spray-painted there. The words are partially visible from Main Street.

“We’re not happy about it,” said Bates Mill complex manager Allan Turgeon. “Like everyone else, we’ve seen a lot of the graffiti. We’ve been painting over it.”

Turgeon said it was believed the person who painted the mill roof was a young man carrying a backpack. He was spotted walking near the mill shortly before the new graffiti appeared. It was thought at the time that the man had been taking a shortcut through the mill complex.

Security officers at the mill complex have increased their patrols around the building, Turgeon said.

Police, meanwhile, are actively investigating the vandalism. No arrests had been made by Wednesday night. In Lewiston, where the bulk of the graffiti has appeared, investigators are asking that anyone with information phone them at 784-6422.