LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Armed with a container of paint remover, a razor blade and a trunk full of paint cans, Louisville resident Ralph Weible has made a name for himself by cleaning up graffiti in the city.
For more than a decade, Weible has cleaned off or painted over tags on brick walls, windows and telephone poles between the Highlands and Clifton neighborhoods.
It’s earned him the nickname “Graffiti Buster.”
On any week, Weible says he likes to go out for at least five days to clean up graffiti, often for hours at a time.
“Usually they’ll let me know when there’s tags that’s been reported. Most of the time I just go out and hunt for them,” Weible said.
Weible works with staff in the neighborhoods who identify areas he needs to work on.
His good deeds are also welcomed by area business owners, who can be fined by the city if graffiti is not cleaned in a timely manner. Weilble says he can take care of it long before that becomes an issue.
“Well, if I get notified, I generally try to knock it out that day. Sometimes it takes a day or two,” Weilble said.
He adds this is a work of love that goes to making the city look its best. It’s something he takes great pride in, even on hot and humid summer days.
Each tag he finds is documented, and so is his clean-up job. It’s a never-ending cycle that keeps this lifelong Louisvillian busy year round.
Weible also does more than just remove paint. Sometimes, he has to restore what’s been damaged. A few years ago, he preserved a mural of Hunter S Thompson which has been splattered with black paint in the Highlands.