Gloucester County is ready to take its fight against graffiti to the streets.

The freeholders are prepared to sign an agreement with a company to clean up any graffiti reported within the county no less than 24 hours after it is reported.

"We're not going to tolerate it," said Freeholder Director Stephen Sweeney. "It cheapens our communities and does nothing but create negativity."

The service will be available to all 24 municipalities at no additional charge. The goal, according to Sweeney, is to get residents involved in assisting with identifying the problem.

There have been issues with graffiti in most towns, including in county-owned parks, according to Sweeney.

"We're not going to let the county become filled with graffiti," said Sweeney. "It's impossible to keep knuckleheads from doing knucklehead things, but we're not going to give them a sense of accomplishment."

The graffiti is usually nothing more than an act of vandalism, but it could also indicate gang activity, according to officials.

"Someone feels they are scoring a victory by doing this," said Sweeney.

Two years ago, Logan Township had a problem with graffiti, according to Mayor Frank Minor.

Concerned citizens worked with community leaders to address the situation, the mayor said, and those responsible for the vandalism were prosecuted.

He commended the county's proposal.

"Graffiti is something you have to get out in front of," said Minor. "It takes the cooperation of the people of the community to be the eyes and ears. ... If you don't take care of it right away, it's almost like a calling card for other taggers."

The freeholder board is expected to vote on a resolution to approve the contract at its meeting Wednesday night. The lowest bidder, Green Earth Force LLC, will be paid $60 an hour to remove the graffiti. The company uses an environmentally-friendly process to remove the graffiti, which includes collecting and recycling all chemicals and water.

Beginning Aug. 24, residents will be able to call the county hotline at (856) 307-6410 to report graffiti.

Anyone caught in the act of defacing any property with graffiti will be prosecuted, officials said.