What started as a series of mystery tags in screaming green paint across downtown West Palm Beach has ended with an arrest and a long to-do list for cleanup crews.
Police say a local man went on a graffiti run along the downtown waterfront and at a nearby construction site, leaving the same bright-green markings on medians, the seawall, a dumpster and the Cove boardwalk. Investigators add that someone climbed a fence at a job site to spray hurricane-impact windows and concrete pillars. City officials say the streak of vandalism racked up substantial damage and triggered a coordinated response from officers and public works teams.
The West Palm Beach Police Department identified the suspect as Xavier Irme and said he used green spray paint to write “FIDER” and “WKT” at multiple spots along South Flagler Drive and at a construction site at 777 S. Flagler Drive, according to a press release on the West Palm Beach Police Department website. Investigators said the tags matched across the medians, seawall, dumpster and the Cove boardwalk, and that the suspect entered the fenced construction property before painting the windows and pillars. Detectives say they tied the incidents together during an investigation that began in late May.
After officers took Irme into custody, he allegedly confessed. Investigators reported finding multiple cans of spray paint, including green, as well as graffiti stickers and drawings inside his vehicle. He is facing charges of burglary of a structure, criminal mischief causing more than $1,000 in damage, and property damage with a prior conviction, WPEC reported. Detectives say the investigation is still active as they work to tally the full extent of the damage.
Cleanup, code enforcement and community resources
Now comes the tedious part. Downtown property owners and city crews will have to scrub, repaint or repair every tagged surface, from the waterfront to the work site. To help, the city points to ongoing neighborhood cleanups and its graffiti abatement tools, which are meant to cover damage quickly and discourage repeat tagging.
The Keep West Palm Beach Beautiful program organizes volunteer restoration projects and offers guidance on how to report and remove graffiti, while code enforcement partners with property owners to address vandalism. For information on volunteer opportunities and how to report graffiti, visit the city’s Keep West Palm Beach Beautiful page.
What’s next
No court dates were listed in publicly available materials, and police say their investigation is ongoing. Officials are asking anyone with information or video related to the case to contact the West Palm Beach Police Department so detectives can follow up.
Tagging has been a recurring headache downtown. A separate graffiti roundup last fall led to arrests and enforcement activity, underscoring a pattern that police say they are still trying to get ahead of.
