FOLEY, Ala. — Two male juveniles were arrested Monday for their alleged involvement in spray painting gang graffiti on housing units and signs in the Aaronville neighborhood.

Some of the vandalism also pertained to profanity directed at the Foley Police Department, which has a Community Service office in the neighborhood, according to Lt. Thurston Bullock, who supervises FPD’s Patrol Division.

The juveniles arrested, ages 15 and 17, have each been charged with second-degree criminal mischief and second-degree criminal tampering, Bullock said on Tuesday.

As Bullock explained it, criminal tampering pertains to a lesser degree of damage to property that doesn’t involve as much inconvenience to a property owner as criminal mischief. Being able to wipe graffiti or profanity off signs with the use of a solvent would constitute the kind of damage that criminal tampering encompasses, while the 16 or 17 public housing units spray painted will have to be re-painted, Bullock said.

A sidewalk was also spray painted, Bullock said.

The vandalism took place Sunday night or early Monday morning and, once reported to FPD, Bullock said officers photographed the damage and canvassed the neighborhood. FPD investigators also got involved in looking for suspects, Bullock said.

The 15-year-old, who lives in Aaronville, was arrested first and told officers “he and a friend got bored and went to Wal-Mart and got spray paint and did the painting,” Bullock said.

The 17-year-old was arrested later in the day on Monday.

While Bullock said FPD doesn’t believe that Foley has a gang problem, he did say officers take the presence of gang graffiti seriously since it could be a sign or indicator that a person might be “dabbling” in gang culture.