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One piece of Inuktitut graffiti, which appeared on the stone benches lining the walkway leading to the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, reads: "Don't get angry." - Lauren McKeon/NNSL photo

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Before snow covered the sidewalks and streets last Wednesday, Yellowknifers might have noticed chalk Inuktitut graffiti on concrete surfaces all over the city.

The syllabics were seen in dozens of different places - the outside walkways of the legislative assembly, the courthouse, the steps leading into banks and outside of businesses such as Le Stockpot.

When translated, many turned out to be questions, such as: "Are you consuming too much alcohol?" or "How much do you have now?" - and even "Are you watching me?" Others were statements such as "Don't get angry." And some were seemingly random: "An engine."

It's anyone's guess, besides the author's, what the purpose, if any, was of the graffiti. Even if it hadn't snowed, it's unlikely the city would have washed away the chalk messages, said Grant White, director of community services.

"If it was just chalk, and it's nothing that's questionable in terms of wording, or a negative message, or derogatory of any nature, it's something that would probably just be ignored until mother nature took care of it," he said.

"We haven't got a single complaint," he added.

The RCMP made no moves to see whether the graffiti had any sinister undertones.

"I'm not aware of how big the problem is, so I can't say we would ignore it, but I can't say we're going to spend a lot of man hours on it, either," said Sgt. Larry O'Brien.

While O'Brien hadn't seen the graffiti before the snow covered it, he was able to make a guess of how any investigation would go.

"If it was becoming extremely noticeable around town, if it was defacing buildings, etcetera, certainly we would be looking into it. We wouldn't be giving it a pass," he said.

"We'd probably try to get it cleaned up first. It just depends on which way an investigation goes. If the graffiti was meant to pass on a certain message and we thought that message would need to be addressed then we certainly would look at that."

For now, however, it looks as though the graffiti will remain a puzzle, covered by a sheet of white snow.