MARQUETTE — After a long investigation by police, two people have been arrested in connection to the graffiti that has been occurring in the city of Marquette, according to the Marquette City Police.

Tekhla Edwards, 21, and Josue Paredes, 25, both of Marquette, were arrested and jailed Thursday on numerous charges related to property damage and destruction, police said.

“It was a lengthy investigation, we did a lot of work on it, and so it finally paid off,” Marquette City Police Captain of Detectives Mike Kohler said.

Edwards is charged with two misdemeanor counts of malicious destruction of a building, six misdemeanor counts of malicious destruction of personal property and four felony counts of malicious destruction of personal property.

Paredes is charged with two counts of misdemeanor malicious destruction to a building, five counts of misdemeanor malicious destruction of property and four felony counts of malicious destruction of personal property.

Police believe that Edwards and Paredes are “responsible for the majority of the graffiti” that police have found around the city recently, Kohler said, noting that this graffiti is “isn’t gang-related.”

“We’ve always had issues over the years of people doing graffiti and fortunately we’ve actually had a pretty good history of solving these cases,” Kohler said. “Certainly there’s other people out there that are responsible for things but we do have two people here that we believe are responsible for the majority of the graffiti that we’re experiencing now.”

Due to the damage to city, state and private property from graffiti, Kohler said it’s important to get it cleaned up.

“We’re trying to get those areas cleaned up as soon as we can if we’re aware of it,” Kohler said. “Certainly, we could recommend if anybody has experience with graffiti or property damage, to get it cleaned up as soon as possible, that would help us with the unsightliness.”

Kohler emphasized that the public should not hesitate to call police at 906-228-0400 if they see any suspicious activity, graffiti-related or not. Callers can remain anonymous, he said.

“Report any and all suspicious activity, you’re not wasting our time,” Kohler said.

Both Paredes and Edwards were lodged in the Marquette County Jail. Bond for Edwards was set at 10 percent of $30,000 and bond for Paredes was set at 10 percent of $27,500.