Popular Utah rock art panel vandalized

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Price, Utah • Authorities are trying to find whoever is responsible for vandalizing a popular rock art panel northeast of Price.

Jerry Spangler, executive director of the Colorado Plateau Archaeological Alliance, says local property owners visited the site Sunday and found the initials "JMN" etched into the rock near an image of a pregnant buffalo.

Spangler says the land owners and the alliance were able to track down the license plate number of a vehicle seen in the area and a description of the people inside.

Spangler says that information has been turned over to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Thousands of people visit the rock art panels in Nine Mile Canyon each year. The images are believed to date back to the Fremont period between 900 and 1250.