Members of the Kane'ohe fire station have been spending their off hours painting over graffiti at the old Coast Guard station in Ha'iku Valley only to have the building tagged again.

The building can be an eyesore for travelers on the H-3 Freeway, marring the view of the pristine mountains, sea and valley.

The firefighters were up there at the end of March wiping out 20 tags and using 15 gallons of paint. They also were there in February but usually go every one to two months, said Capt. Tommy McKee of the Kane'ohe station. "That's how fast they re-graffiti the building," McKee said in an e-mail.

But their paint is running out. They started with 150 gallons of donated paint and 20 roller covers but have less than 50 gallons of paint left and now they use their own roller covers.

McKee said one week after the last paintout the taggers were back.