DENVER -- The Air Force Reserve plans to discharge a lieutenant colonel accused of causing thousands of dollars in damage by defacing cars with pro-Bush bumper stickers, officials said Friday.

Lt. Col. Alexis Fecteau, a pilot with 500 combat hours in the first Persian Gulf war and the Balkans, is charged with felony criminal mischief for allegedly using paint stripper to write "F--- Bush" in 18-inch-high letters on cars at Denver International Airport that had bumper stickers supporting President Bush and conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh.

Jim Miller, a spokesman for the Air Force Reserve Command at Robins Air Force Base, Ga., said the command plans to begin the process of giving Fecteau an administrative discharge. He said Fecteau does not face any military punishment.

Neither Fecteau nor his lawyer, Patrick Mulligan, immediately returned calls. Mulligan has said Fecteau would plead not guilty.

Fecteau is charged with 13 counts of criminal mischief, five of them felonies because the damage to five vehicles was estimated at more than $500 each.

Police said the vehicles were damaged between January and July 2005 and a bait vehicle at the airport equipped with a camera recorded an image of a suspect and his car. Police said they matched the car to footage from a camera monitoring cars leaving the parking lot and traced the license plate to Fecteau.

A spokeswoman for the Denver district attorney said the Air Force had asked to take jurisdiction in the case but prosecutors refused.

"Our reply was 'no,"' spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough said. "If there were Air Force repercussions that would be fine; it didn't affect our filing."

Lt. Matthew Fuller, another spokesman at Robins, denied the Air Force wanted to take over the case.

Fecteau is expected to enter a plea on Feb. 9.