MERRIMACK – The managers of the former Shaw’s Supermarket may not have carried the can, but, with graffiti covering the store front, they have paint on their hands, according to one town official who is looking to launch a boycott of the chain.

Town residents discovered spray-painted graffiti markings at the store several weeks ago, and Merrimack Police are continuing to search for the culprits, they said. But, as much as the unknown vandals are to blame, the managers of the vacant store space share the responsibility, Town Councilor Dan Dwyer said this week.

Shaw’s officials, who left the Daniel Highway space more than five years ago to open a new store in town, have held the lease on the location since, leaving it empty.

Company officials say they are looking to fill the space.

“Unfortunately, despite actively marketing this property, we have not yet been able to find a suitable tenant,” spokesman Steve Sylven wrote this week in a message to the Telegraph.

But Dwyer disagrees, charging that the company has kept the space vacant in order to prevent competing stores from moving in.

“They have a stranglehold on it. They don’t want anyone else coming in,” Dwyer said this week, encouraging shoppers to take up a boycott against the chain.

“This (graffiti) is what happens to a blighted … abandoned piece of property,” he said. “They’re really not treating Merrimack with any respect.”

Police officers, who have seen a surge in graffiti reported across town over recent weeks, are continuing to investigate the matter. They’re offering a cash reward for information that leads to the arrest and prosecution of the vandals, who use the tags “IKON” and “TMS.”

But as far as removing the markings, officers’ hands are largely tied, as much of it falls on private property.

Investigators have reached out to property owners who have been victims of the acts of vandalism, and most have agreed to address the matter quickly, according to Police Chief Mark Doyle.

“This is the kind of thing that breeds more graffiti if it’s not addressed quickly,” Doyle said Friday.

Owners of the former Shaw’s space removed the markings earlier in the week, Doyle said. But with the store remaining vacant, Dwyer still has more long-term concerns.

The store has the opportunity to renew its lease on the space for another 10 years, which could lead to another decade of economic blight, Dwyer said. So, in addition to calling on shoppers to boycott the stores, Dwyer has asked the Town Council to explore eminent domain proceedings on the store, under which officials would seize the property without the owner’s consent.

“As long as the owners continue to accept Shaw’s money … both are participating and curtailing the normal economic growth and contributing to the decline of our town,” Dwyer told the Council earlier this month. “If this cycle is allowed to continue this site will never change.”

Jake Berry can be reached at 594-6402 or jberry@nashuatelegraph.com.