Reddit users helping investigator track down artist defacing national parks

This photo was posted to Casey Nocket's Instagram account on Sept. 16, 2014. (Instagram/@creepytings via modernhiker.com)

A young woman is drawing plenty of heat from nature-lovers and the U.S. National Park Service, after she allegedly painted hard-to-remove murals in national parks and posted the photos on social media.

New Yorker Casey Nocket allegedly documented a recent hiking trip through the western United States by painting faces in the national parks she visited, then posting the photos on Instagram with the tag "leave your mark." Nature-lovers have slammed her on social media for defacing the scenic areas, and outraged users on Reddit now appear to be assisting park officials with a criminal investigation.

"The National Park Service is investigating reports of vandalism in at least 10 national parks in Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon and Utah," the organization said in a news release posted to its website Wednesday.

The NPS said it could not go into details on the investigation, adding that it takes vandalism very seriously. "Vandalism is a violation of the law and it also damages and sometimes destroys often irreplaceable treasures that belong to all Americans," the statement said. "There are forums for artistic expression in national parks because national parks inspire artistic creativity. These images are outside that forum and outside the law."

A Reddit user identifying himself as Yosemite National Park investigator Steven Yu appears to be using the link-sharing site to source evidence for a vandalism case against the artist.

"Thanks so much for bringing this to our attention," user StevenYuSpecialAgent posted in a Reddit thread dedicated to finding Nocket on Wednesday. "I'm not sure about the best way to go about this as this is my first case I've worked off Reddit, but if folks can send what they've grabbed to my email, that would be great."

Yu goes on to stress the importance of following due process in pursuit of the vandal.

"Please remember, EVERYONE in our society has the right to Due Process," he says.

Nocket has now made her Instagram account private and deleted her Tumblr account in the face of Internet backlash, but bloggers and Redditors have preserved many of her photos as evidence against her.

Many of the park paintings in question are signed "Creepy Tings 2014."

"Creepy Tings" is Nocket's username on Instagram and Tumblr.

Before she took down her Instagram account, Nocket replied to another user who asked what materials she used in her artwork.

"Is that paint or chalk?" the user asked.

"Acrylic," Nocket replied. "I know, I'm a bad person."

Dried acrylic paint does not wash off in the rain. Most removal methods involving using paint thinner and a sharp scraper.

Many have slammed Nocket on social media for defacing public parks, and have readily agreed with her own "bad person" comment. One of her photos on Tumblr has been modified to include the text: "Don't be a #CaseyNocket."

One critic on Reddit criticized her for the "leave your mark" tag she attached to her photos.

"Wasn't she ever taught to 'take only photos and leave only footprints' while being in nature?" Redditor joshuaoha posted on Thursday.

The news release from the National Parks Service lists the following parks affected by the vandalism:

NPS says it is awaiting confirmation on other possible cases of vandalism at the following locations: