Campus police have reported an upswing of thefts from vehicles this month.

There have also been large amounts of graffiti appearing in campus parking lots, but campus police say there’s no reason to believe the two are connected.

There were 15 reported thefts from vehicles in October. There were four thefts from parking structure 1, two thefts from the University Boulevard lot and two from the Kentucky Street lot. There was one theft each from the Dogwood lot, parking structure 2 and 14th Avenue lot.

Stereos were stolen in nine of the 15 thefts. In many of those thefts, cars were forced open or windows were broken, according to campus police crime reports.

Many new stereos have a detachable faceplate, said Capt. Mike Dowell, public information officer with the campus police.

It’s best if students can take it inside with them, he said.

“Other than taking the stereo in with you, you can’t do a lot about it,” Dowell said.

Dowell said locking doors is the most important step to deterring theft, but thieves will do whatever they can to take things they want.

Graffiti has also increased this month.

Officer John Bailey said he has noticed the graffiti around campus.

Most of the graffiti seems to be done with a black marker, although it might be some sort of paint, Bailey said.

There is evidence that one person is doing much of the tagging. Some of the graffiti have the same infomation and tag symbols in common, but it mostly varies, he said.

It’s important to note that there are two different issues going on, said Barry Pruitt, public information officer for Bowling Green Police.

Graffiti and theft from vehicles are typically not related, Pruitt said.

“It’s probably not gang graffiti,” Pruitt said.

Dowell said students should use caution in areas recently affected by those crimes.

“If they feel uncomfortable, then our escort service will be more than happy to help them,” he said.

The escort service provides a student or police escort for people walking campus from dusk until dawn. An escort can be requested by calling campus police at 745-2548.

Any suspicious behavior should be reported to campus police, Dowell said. Immediate reports can be the difference between catching somebody and not catching somebody.

Reach Chris Byrne at news@chherald.com.