As darkness fell, Peter Hammond decided it was time to go for it. He took his equipment and headed toward the old Starkville Tours building at the corner of Jackson and Lampkin street.
 He approached the building, gave a quick look around to make sure no one was coming, and began to tape up his stencil. Seconds later, he heard sirens in the distance and soon saw the lights coming down the road, directly at him.
 He acted fast, grabbing the stencil and sliding into the abandoned building just in time to watch the squad car race by without hesitation.  They were not coming for him. Not this time.
Maybe Hammond should have just stopped there and gone home. It was a little late for all that now, though. He said he thought about it being a “rebellious” art form, but an art form none-the-less, and decided to carry on.
Knowing it was now or never, Hammond scrambled back outside, re-taped the stencil and started again. When he was finished, Starkville was graced with Hammond’s first public piece and the city’s first ever Storm Trooper.
Over the next nine months, Hammond and Zach Harris, Hammond’s friend and fellow artist, anonymously “tagged” several different sites around Starkville, the most notable being the bridge on University Drive. 
People were starting to notice the re-occurring stencils that oftentimes left them wondering who were these secret artists. Among the confused included the Starkville Police Department.
On July 15, Detective William Durr said he was asked to investigate 10 or more sites with similar taggings.
During his investigation, Durr photographed and continually returned to these sites and admitted the majority were either dilapidated or no longer in use.
Even so, Crime Stoppers offered a $1000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of the culprits responsible for the paintings. It didn’t take long to get a tip, and the names were easily obtained, Durr said.
After seeing all the commotion they had stirred up in The Starkville Dispatch with articles like “Police going after graffiti artists,” which stated the culprits could face possible felonies, the two young men surrendered to police on July 23.
“We didn’t want them coming to us,” Hammond said
Following their arrests, the two were very cooperative, Durr said.
“They agreed to help clean up all their paintings, and the felonies were lessened to misdemeanors,” he said.
Starkville’s problem and Hammond’s art are in no way unique to Starkville.
A stroll through any major city, from London to Los Angeles, will undoubtedly reveal the prevalence of the urban etchings that have not only created a controversial art, but a lifestyle to go with it.
This lifestyle of graffiti, Hammond said, is just as important as the art itself, and it was that lifestyle that really drew him to the art form.
Referencing Banksy, the British-born world-famous graffiti artist, Hammond said, despite Banksy’s success and the artist following he has created, his real identity remains a mystery.
World famous is not an understatement, either. Not only does Banksy have pieces (most of them considered powerful, social commentary) in numerous cities in both Europe and the United States, but he has had multiple international art shows and was even asked to design a special introduction for “The Simpsons.” Even with this popularity, he has somehow remained anonymous.
“It’s like that with a lot of the successful ones; they are all underground,” Hammond said. “The anonymity definitely adds to the art form.”
Admittedly, this article began with the attempt to subtly highlight the fact that graffiti is an art and therefore should not be considered vandalism, but I have run into a pleasantly satisfying conclusion: if it is true that any kind of painting, drawing or defacing of private property without permission is vandalism — which it is according to the SPD, and if it is the secrecy, anonymity and the lifestyle that define the art form — which seems also to be true — then what I think I have stumbled on is a mutually beneficial, dependable and appreciative relationship.
Though there are obviously critics and supporters for both sides of the art versus vandalism debate, it doesn’t really seem like they have much which to argue about.
 If the police didn’t enforce the vandalism laws, then the artists would have no one to sneak around or avoid. The difficulty of putting up pieces in a short amount of time is the “adrenaline rush,” Hammond said, which is unique to the art.
If the artists didn’t practice their craft, then the police would be unable to bring the city useful money from the fines assessed. Granted, the artist must be caught first, and investigations do cost money, but investigations also provide employment; this cannot be overlooked.
So even though supporters on both sides would like to see the others simply stop what they are doing, and one side could most obviously exist without the other, the impact the two have on each other, even in a small Mississippi town, is undeniable.