Illegal scrawl art from the spray can

A sprayer hangs around in Luitpoldstrasse in Krailling.

Sometimes in black, sometimes in blue, he puts his illegible lettering on power distribution and telecom boxes, garbage can houses and even a street sign.

Krailling/Planegg - A six-door wide garbage can house offers plenty of space.

That must have been what the stranger must have thought who left his scrawl in black at Luitpoldstraße 3 a few weeks ago.

Melanie Maier filed a complaint.

Being very busy with her job, she didn't manage to hire a cleaning company at the same time.

Luckily, the same blue lettering was added overnight a few days ago.

Maier expects costs of 500 euros to remove the graffiti.

She is considering drawing attention to the graffiti via Facebook.

"Maybe he'll stop doing it then," she hopes.

If graffiti is applied against the will of the owner, it is considered property damage.

Thomas Sorgalla, head of the Planegger inspection, therefore advises "always to report".

Anyone who discovers an unwanted pictorial representation, lettering or an abbreviation on their property - called "character", "style" or "tag" by sprayers - should come to the inspection with a photo.

The officials record the ad and forward it to the Graffiti Munich coordination group.

Keep receipt for cleaning costs

Investigators from the police and the federal police work together there.

The latter is responsible for trains and facilities of Deutsche Bahn AG and thus also for the S-Bahn trains, which are often vandalized.

Most sprayers, Sorgalla says, are recognizable because they leave a mark.

"The specialist department can definitely bring certain things together." He recommends keeping any invoices that were due for the repair of the damage.

As soon as the perpetrators have been identified, the money can be claimed under civil law.

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Perpetrators do not distinguish between private and public

Sorgalla sees two groups of perpetrators.

Some are attracted by the "smooth, monochromatic surface".

The sprayers often left graffiti there.

The others aimed for good visibility and chose, for example, S-Bahn trains as underground.

Sorgalla: "There is no distinction between private and public." He asks citizens to contact the police as soon as they see something suspicious, for example a young person with a spray can in his hand.

"We can't be present on every street." A criminal offense could then possibly be cleared up by securing evidence and comparing paintwork, for example.

The head of inspection is reminiscent of Edding daubs at the Feodor-Lynen-Gymnasium.

The perpetrators still had paint on their fingers when they were caught.

Depot employees constantly have to remove graffiti

The Planegger depot now has to deal with the blue smeared lettering on the town sign on the border between Krailling and Planegg.

Its manager, Alexander Veit, says: "I haven't had any place-name signs before." The depot has a special tool.

However, it could dull the sign, which needs to be fluorescent like a traffic sign.

Then it would have to be replaced.

For Veit, the removal of graffiti by his employees is part of everyday life.

Either the colleagues see the graffiti themselves, or the depot is made aware of it by e-mail from citizens.

"The whole time is sprayed," says Stefan Schaudig, manager of the municipality.

"If we notice something, we generally report it."

More interesting news from the Würmtal can be found here.