Prague’s Charles Bridge is once again “decorated” with new graffiti. Vandals spray-painted “Krakow + Moscow = Prague”, and Sunday’s date, on a bridge arcade on the Lesser Town side.
“We know about the new graffiti and we are already dealing with the National Institute for the Preservation of Historical Monuments and the Department for the Preservation of Monuments of Prague,” said Barbora Lišková, spokesman for Technical Administration of Communications (TSK).
None of the security cameras apparently caught the vandals.
Nové graffiti na Karlově mostě. Krakóv + Moscow = Prague
8.3.2020 pic.twitter.com/l8hxoOlU5I— janekrubes (@janekrubes) March 9, 2020
The stones are very porous, and it could be very difficult, maybe even impossible to clean them so that there are no traces of the graffiti left on the wall.
Prague is not a crime-torn city. Prague’s crime index is only 24.65. The highest risk of crime seems to come from corruption and bribery, with a 53.61 rating. Vandalism was second with a crime rating of 37.63, still considered very low.
Last year, two German tourists accused of spray painting the Charles Bridge were sentenced to a one-year suspended term sentence, 5 years expulsion from the Czech Republic and a 100,000CZK fine.
But vandalism is pervasive across the board in Europe, perhaps more so than ever. The Sun UK reports that of France’s 42,285 churches, 875 had been desecrated in 2018. Sadly, this report came just a week before the Notre Dame fire, which devoured much of the 850-year-cathedral. The same year, 59 cemeteries were reportedly vandalized.
