Honolulu Zoo officials were asking the public for help catching the vandal or vandals who scratched graffiti-like markings on 21 panes of glass on animal enclosures yesterday, causing damage that could cost thousands of dollars to repair.

The vandalism happened some-time between noon and 1:30 p.m., while the zoo was open to visitors, officials said.

Sidney Quintal, director of city Department of Enterprise Services, called it the worst instance of vandalism he's seen in the years he's been associated with the zoo.

"We had people come in and mark up something and things like that," Quintal said. "But this is the first time we've seen vandalism at this high level." Police were called to investigate.

Zoo director Stephen Walker said someone must have used a diamond cutter or similar instrument to cause the deep scratches in the tempered glass panes.

Walker noted that the markings were virtually the same in each instance. Each featured a prominent e-shaped design and an arrow, with a squiggly line aimed at the letter.

Zoo officials first noticed the damage at the enclosure of one of the facility's most noted inhabitants, Rusty the orangutan. Soon, they discovered more vandalism at the Komodo dragon, wild dog and other animal enclosures.

"This one (marking) was not there at noon when the keeper left to go to lunch," said Walker, pointing at designs gouged in the 6-foot-square glass window at the orangutan compound. "And at 1:30 p.m. it was. And then the reports just started coming all over the place."

None of the zoo's 1,533 visitors yesterday reported seeing anyone messing with the glass, Walker said.

It could cost hundreds of dollars per pane to buff out the damage, Quintal said. If they can't be fixed, the cost to replace them would be several thousand dollars apiece, Walker said.

Nothing was caught on surveillance video, said Quintal, because the zoo aims its cameras at the animals, not the visitors.

"Budget-wise, we never thought we had to put anything in for surveillance of people," Quintal said. "Obviously, the tag industry has reached us, and we're a little bit behind the curve. We are going to look at putting in some entrance cameras and such if we can find somebody who'll help us."

Quintal and Walker are asking the public to help identify the culprit or the markings.

"We're hoping that people will see this and recognize it, or maybe those who were here will report that they saw somebody. Or, maybe they got photos."