By james art 
A serial graffiti artist who lives in Wyoming and was spray painted “Ciga” on public and private property across the country for a decade was wanted again, this time in Cody, court records show.
Mark Meadowcroft, 28, of Cheyenne, could face up to 10 years in prison in prison if caught and convicted this time. He is charged with one felony count of destruction of property.
Meadowcroft made headlines in the Boston Globe and other publications in 2015 after he vandalized two vintage strollers on display in the city the previous year. with rising bubbles from his signature label ‘Ciga’.
In the months between the crime and Meadowcroft’s arrest, police received more reports of “Cigarette“ on the surface of people’s private properties all over Boston.
Meadowcroft was eventually captured and pleaded guilty.
But he was again accused of vandalism in 2016 and again in 2018.
Police arrested him in 2021 near his girlfriend’s home in lower Manhattan on suspicion of scrawling “Ciga” in New York at least five times, including on a billboard in Times Square and a parking meter in Chinatown, reported Yahoo News.
Now he is wanted again.
Park County authorities issued a warrant for Meadowcroft’s arrest on Halloweenand tthe local jail doesn’t show it on the list. The Cody Police Department did not return a voicemail for comment.
Midnight in Cody
The investigation began the morning of Oct. 29 when Cody Police Department Officer Garrett Rothleutner responded to a man who reported someone had spray-painted “cig” on his fence the night before, according to an evidentiary affidavit filed in the case.
Rocky Mountain Discount Liquor offered video of the event, which shows a 2000 Chevy Silverado 1500 extended cab, silver two-tone truck pulling into the liquor store’s exit around midnight, the affidavit said.
The truck had a chrome tool box in its bed, the officer added.
According to the document, the video shows a man wearing a gray hoodie and gray pants with white sneakers exiting the vehicle and spray-painting blue graffiti on the netting covering the chain-link fence: a 5-foot-tall, 25-foot-long “cig.”
Rothleutner later learned that a brick building in the area was also tagged, he wrote in the affidavit.
A police sergeant had stopped a Chevrolet coincidence description at night and saw spray paint and a clown mask on the passenger seat of the truck, the officer added.
Body camera footage reveals a man dressed in gray alone in the truck. The driver has been identified as Mark Meadowcroft, the document said.
Investigators also found the word spray “cigarette.”–painted purple on a step between the Conoco Country Store and the Boot Barn, Rothleutner wrote. Security camera video from the store showed a silver Chevy with a chrome toolbox in the bed, the affidavit said, adding that the gray-clad subject spray-painted the step while loading his truck around midnight.
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A serial graffiti artist who lived in Wyoming and spray-painted “Ciga” on public and private property across the country for a decade is wanted again, this time in Cody, police said. (Courtesy of Wes Allen) -
A serial graffiti artist who lived in Wyoming and spray-painted “Ciga” on public and private property across the country for a decade is wanted again, this time in Cody, police said. (Andrew Rossi, Cowboy State Daily) -
A serial graffiti artist who lived in Wyoming and spray-painted “Ciga” on public and private property across the country for a decade is wanted again, this time in Cody, police said. (Andrew Rossi, Cowboy State Daily)
In sunlight
Also on Oct. 29, Cody police responded to Sunlight Sports where a 6– wide leg, 4– a tall “cig” graced a storage trailer in a yellowish tan.
Wes Allen, co-owner at Sunlight Sports, told Cowboy State Daily that he didn’t know many details about the case, other than that he would have to pay to have the trailer repainted. It’s a semi-trailer that holds the shop’s winter equipment, Allen said.
He said he hopes authorities can catch and stop the graffiti vandal.
While at Sunlight, investigators learned of more graffiti along the way on three more buildings and three City of Cody dumpsters — all say “cig” in black paint, the affidavit said.
He’s here, he’s there
Rothleutner received a national FBI data sharing report that says Denver police caught Meadowcroft flagging “Ciga” in 2016, the officer wrote in the affidavit. In 2023, the city of Miami, Florida arrested Meadowcroft and removed several cans of spray paint after passersby saw a man tagging an abandoned building.
Rothleutner’s affidavit also referenced a March 13, 2015 Bostone magazine story detailing the trolley incident.
The cost to clean up and replace a chain-link fence would cost the city and its affected residents more than $1,000, Rothleutner concluded, making the vandalism billable as a property destruction offense.
Claire McFarland can be reached at [email protected].