Gainesville officials are trying to decide how best to clean up some downtown graffiti. A little makeup remover might just do the trick.

A heart and peace sign were drawn at the base of the Old Joe Confederate monument and it appears black lipstick was used to create the images, said Angela Thompson, Main Street manager. A second graffiti mark was also found on a traffic control box, she said.

Thompson reported the vandalism to the Gainesville-Hall County Gang Task Force on Monday and Gainesville public works employees promptly cleaned the traffic box.

The statue will take longer to repair and special chemicals may be needed, Thompson said.

"Unfortunately it costs the city a great deal of money to take care of the graffiti," she said. "And with all of the money that the city has invested in downtown and just around the city it's hard to see that. And we all hate it."

Lt. Scott Ware, the task force's spokesman, said he did not suspect the vandalism to be gang related.

"That's just something kids would do," he said. "That's not consistent with any of our criminal street gangs."

Ware said the department will investigate any leads in the case.

"It's criminal damage to property whether it's a gang member that's doing it or if it's anyone else," he said. "We would certainly exhaust any leads."