AN appeal has been launched to try to find a mysterious graffiti artist who has left their mark in various towns.

Police are trying to catch the vandal after an increase in graffiti, using the 'CROES' tag across Blackburn, in particular around the town centre, Accrington and Rishton.

Officers are trying to map all incidents and one of the latest was found at the back of Richmond Terrace at the weekend.

Sgt Steve Dundon, of Blackburn neighbourhood police, is calling on people who may have seen it to report it as they want to catch the person who committed the offence.

He said: "This is something we have been seeing after it was reported by the council, small businesses and even around The Mall.

"It has been seen at various locations and after the post people said they have been seeing it as far away as Rishton and Accrington too.

"We are trying to map them all out and take action to find out who has done it. "We don't want it to continue and this particular example was in the back alley and happened between noon and 9am the next morning.

"Whilst it may seem like harmless fun to some, this kind of behaviour is unnecessary, unsightly and causes damage that ultimately someone has to either clean or paint over.

"I am calling on people to report any other sightings for us to map it out and try to see if there is a trend.

"I would also ask if anyone has any information as to who may be responsible for this graffiti?

"You may be a school teacher or college lecturer who has seen this tag on a student's books, you may work with someone who uses this tag on their tools, or you may simply know is responsible.

"If you do know anything, then please do the right thing so we can work to prevent any further incidents of this graffiti across our town."

If you have any information then you can either email 7460@lancashire.police.uk or call Crimestoppers at http://orlo.uk/wxPKW or 0800 555 111.