More than 100 MARTA bus shelters vandalized in 1 week

MARTA is working to repair more than 100 bus shelters that were vandalized in a one-week period this month, causing at least $20,000 in damage, officials said.

The bus shelters, many of them new and clustered around Memorial Drive, were graffitied with a liquid substance that etches glass, a MARTA spokeswoman said. The etching makes the graffiti impossible to remove without replacing an entire glass panel, each of which costs about $200. In some cases, the glass was completely shattered, leaving the shelters open to the elements. The spokeswoman said most of the vandalism took place between Dec. 3 and Dec. 10.

MARTA is working to replace the panels now, but the project is taking longer than anticipated because of the number of bus shelters affected, the spokeswoman said.