The "Graffiti Tipster" program is being put in place by the Hilo Downtown Improvement Association and Crime Stoppers. Jeff Pressey, who heads up Goodwill's Aina Keepers, said if the program helps nab just a couple of vandals, it'll make a big dent in the amount of graffiti his volunteers deal with two days each week.

"Most of what we see are repeats by the same person, showing up over and over again," Pressey said.

The vandals are showing increased boldness, with both the size and audacity of the graffiti on the rise.

"They're going into places they haven't gone before," Pressey said. "They climbed on the roof of the Sack '- Save and hit the upper portions by the sign so it's more visible. They hit a highly visible restroom in Keaukaha right by the roadway and covered all the walls so everyone could see it."

Police caught a couple of graffiti vandals last year, and the problem slowed down, Pulu'ole said. Since then, the graffiti has come back, and virulently.

"At the end of last year it really started to increase, then in February and March there was just a crescendo," Pulu'ole said. "The Aina Keepers can't keep up with it."

Pulu'ole said that thick indelible markers are now being used for some of the markings, probably because the instruments can easily be concealed in a pocket.

The new reward system applies to anyone caught doing graffiti downtown, roughly from Banyan Drive to the Wailuku River and up to Kinoole Street.

"They don't keep geographical boundaries, but they like downtown," Pulu'ole said of the vandals.

Downtown community police officer Bill Derr said the vandalism stretches well down the Keaukaha strip, where taggers have hit public restrooms at beach parks.

Tips should be called in to Crime Stoppers. Pulu'ole said the DIA has been asking businesses and friends of downtown for $25 tax-deductible donations to the new program.

"People have been very generous," Pulu'ole said. "Some have given us $100, because this graffiti causes them a lot of expense and problems."

The tax-deductible donations will go into a special fund dedicated to reward payments to "tag the taggers."

"This is a way for us to funnel information on who is doing this," Derr said. "We're working together to come up with some more innovative ways to deal with this problem. The downtown businesses are certainly getting tired of repainting their walls every weekend."

Donations can be mailed to Hilo Downtown Improvement Association, 329 Kamehameha Ave. Hilo, HI 96720. The DIA can be reached at 935-8850. Call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300.