Vandalism in Poland: Has it always been this way?

Over the past 6 months I've been reading a lot of disturbing stories about Polish vandals breaking into zoos, destroying public playgrounds, bus-stops, etc. It's all very disturbing. Why is this happening?....... I began to reminisce how rare it was to see such acts of vandalism back in the PRL days. Why was that? Was it because there was nothing to vandalize? Did that society raise their children differently? Or maybe the press didn't report these acts as they are now?...........I'm not sure why but all this destruction at the hands of the young has gotten me all worked up(maybe I should lay off the Polish TV and internet news sites - there's enough sad new here in the US).

Unfortunately, some Poles have associated freedom with vandalism. It is a social pathology and these days the youth have the iPhone/iDontCare attitude. It could also be related to the hooligan movement which is still going strong on Polish stadiums.

stadiums are hooligans free these days......almost free.
Streets aren't the same as in PRL, we are much louder and we swear a lot, out loud, too. Nobody would flee from Police either. In PRL Police would round up anybody near vandalized property, beat them up on the way to Police station and force some to admit a crime....Now they can't establish who did what fast enough.

TV, Internet would take any news and now everybody has camera, so would post any incident up somewhere for others to see.
Society tends to raise children better, I would like to believe. At least beating children is now punishable and less frequent.
Still, Poland is a very safe place to be overall and all the hype is indeed media theme.

Yes - no more vandalism of the type that the OP mentioned than most other places in that part of Europe. The level of graffiti is shocking though and neither nothing new nor getting any better. Cameras don't seem to be stopping it.

Also some Western European cities put more money into cleaning graffities. In Poland it doesn't seem to big a priority, nor cleaning cities from advertisement chaos is.

It isn't so much the city centre (where after all you expect ads) but in the countryside, in otherwise pretty villages and in the suburbs.


Paradoxically the penalties are very severe. One thing that's always puzzled me - there's so much graffiti, new stuff appears all the time but I've never seen anyone actually spraying it.

You don't see graffiti being done as most of it is a 5 second **** on the wall. As for fast clean up hardly any building has a maintenance guy present at the property and cleaning ladies don't have graffiti clean up on their contracts; tenants could call but property management would be deaf on much more important issues.

The real vandals are drivers - on sidewalks and also green areas. Shoes here wear out much faster...on sharp sidewalks elements, loose stones, glass, you name it.

I caught a yoof spraying graffiti on a block wall in Katowice Tysiaclecia. I boxed his ears and had him crying out in vain for his dad. These clowns are scum.

Little git.

There's so much here. The only place I've seen more is the dodgy bits of Athens - in Poland it's everywhere and no art to it.

Residents of the city of Kielce are disgusted at multiple acts of vandalism against colourful benches in the city park. The mayor expressed his contempt for those acts. Yet, vandals haven`t been detained.

It must have been done by homo sovieticus morons who dislike when their neighbourhood is colourful and prefer old communist greyness.

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...don't like being indoctrinated when enjoying a moment of peace in a park. Just as many would object to a bench with "Abortion is murder" on it.

What indoctrination are you talking about? What is wrong with multiple coloured benches??? They are a perfect way to dissipate the dull atmosphere of a provincial town which is haunted by its bad reputation. Come on, don`t seek any hidden meanings if there are none.

The meaning is clear: those are gay colors and the message is that gays are good people.
Pretending that they are not there deliberately and not pro-gay is like claiming that a swastika on a Jewish grave marker is just four squares with four sides missing by mistake.

This is not an attempt to start another gay vs hetero fight, so don't go there. I am strictly on those colors as a social or political message which many may not want to see - along with other messages, however noble and progressive they may be to the artist.

If there were colors to express our hate of child molesters or love of motherhood, I still want park benches to be off-limits.

Of course not. Those are colours of the rainbow or visible spectrum first of all. Rainbow colours appear in many illustrations, logos or symbols without a gay context. You are imagining things.


How can a bench carry a message about anybody being good???

He isn't fooling anyone around here. Its too bad the gays destroyed the image of the rainbow for normal ppl.

Of course I am not. Vandalism is vandalism and it should be condemned as it concerns public property. Don`t you condemn it? So when vandals who damage benches come to your neighbourhood and destroy the property there don`t call the police coz you should be consistent and close an eye.

...and "gay" which used to mean happy. And "partner" - a guy wanted for his skills, not his rectum. Am I missing anything?


They didn't destroy the bench, They replaced Message 1 with Message 2. You know, art is in the eye...
You can still sit on it...

Yes, you are disgusting now. Talking about such body parts as a rec... and so on in connection with simple benches?? I don`t get it.


Nope, you can`t. Better look what those vandals did to those amazing benches:

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Now I am with you. That's not cool. I thought that they just painted over the gay rainbow.

Same here. No need to destroy the bench, but a can of lovely green paint would have done the trick.

Poland should learn from Singapore how to reward the graffiti "artists" - with a cane. As far as I know, there are no graffiti repeaters in Singapore. Just ask Michael Fay. He got 6.

"Jebac" is to f**k. Nice decor where kids play. Europe is like this all over. They think it's art.


That would be too straight. I mean too hetero.

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Oh Rich, the little deeksters were just expressing themselves.

Guys, I am glad you don`t approve of those obvious acts of despicable vandalism. Grafitti is the least problem in comparison to total destruction.

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Bravo!!!

And yes, Poland has always been tagged up everywhere except churches - those are off limits (synagogues, mosques, etc. are not though). I bet the richest person in Poland sells spray paint.

So, you support vandalism?? But you know it will turn against you and things you value one day??? Coz when vandals have started with benches today, they will finish with churches tomorrow.


You are so wrong. When was the last time you visited Poland or at least read the news about it?????

Finish with churches tomorrow??? I am sorry, I made a mistake - it is not tomorrow, it is today.

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One bench vs graffiti everywhere... Hmm...Which one would I rather see in my town...Let me think...

No, it is not one colourful bench in Kielce but a dozen or more.

But you didn't object to graffiti everywhere, which, btw, is extremely hard to remove from porous surfaces and would cost tens of millions. Or did you?

Only the vandalism against gay colors.

Of course I do. I hate it. But those sprayed buildings are still standing, right? The case of destroyed benches appealed to me more coz now people taking a walk in the park aren`t able to have a rest. Many of them are elderly. Those vandals are halfwits who think they will never be old - it is beyond their imagination.

But you didn't react until it was about gay colors.


No. It's not right. Just because they are standing is not fine with the owners, just as it would not be fine with you if your house was vandalized. Why? Because now you would have a major cleanup expense or deal with a diminished market value.

That bench can be placed back or replaced easily. Bolting it down solves the problem as far as it being there for the "elderly".