TWO teenagers were marched to the police station by their parents after the Adver ran CCTV pictures of graffiti artists defacing a wall.
A hidden camera caught two taggers covering the same wall twice in the space of two weeks.
Two people were seen spraying the wall, along the underpass from Rodbourne to the Oasis and then returning another day to do it again after the council had cleaned the mess off. Two men, who are both 18, were taken to Gablecross police station by their parents after they spotted the pictures in Tuesday's paper.
A number of members of the public called in to identify the pair, who come from the Covingham area.
The police have interviewed the teens in connection with the tags Mork, Nark and Sickbombings.
The men were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and have been released on police bail. They are due to return to the police station next month.
As reported in Tuesday's Adver graffiti artists covered the wall five times in the last month. After each occasion the council has cleaned the mess off only for the vandals to return.
Rodbourne Community Beat Manager PC Megan Kenzie said the arrests were a breakthrough for the police.
"The two males handed themselves into the police station and I received a number of emails from members of the public who did name these same males so it was a brilliant result," PC Kenzie said.
"We would like to thank the members of the public who contacted us with the names. The help of the Adver is much appreciated."
The first set of photos were taken on August 12 and police said the two men in the images were responsible for covering the wall.
The council then cleaned the area and the pair returned on August 27 and sprayed it again.
PC Kenzie said: "Graffiti is one of the Neighbourhood Policing Team's priorities and we are cracking down on it.
"It's one of the biggest problems the community worries about."
Steve Harcourt, the director of environment and health at Swindon Council, said the hidden cameras had been introduced because graffiti artists are costing taxpayers in the town a considerable amount of money. The Adver launched the Grass up Graffiti campaign back in February and since then a number of taggers have been identified and dealt with by the police.
On Monday a 13-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is due to appear at Swindon Magistrates' Court accused of covering the town in graffiti.
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