KNOXVILLE, Tenn — The City of Knoxville is recognizing some employees as "anti-graffiti warriors."
Public Service Department Foreman Abe Crabtree and his crew spend a few hours a week making sure the city looks its best.
"Now that it's getting colder, [the graffiti] has slowed down some," Crabtree said.
The main trouble area for Crabtree and his crew is the Gay Street bridge. The City estimates that employees remove more than 200 spray paintings and tags in South Knoxville every month.
"Hopefully, [the graffiti has slowed down] from us being persistent and covering it up," Crabtree said. "They're realizing that it's going to get covered up just as quick so maybe they're thinking twice about coming back to spray paint walls and poles."
The City sat down with Crabtree and District Manager Enzo Montenotte.
"You see the graffiti on the back of a sign as you're driving away, and you just have to turn around and take care of it," Montenotte said to the City. "Even when I'm going home at the end of the day, I've got my eyes open, looking for it."