One of the first things that struck me when I came to live in Prague was the astonishing amount of graffiti - not just in the suburbs and on brownfield sites where (Lord help us) we expect it - but in the centre, disfiguring priceless and ancient buildings, new masterpieces of architecture and just about any item of municipal property you can name.
Graffiti is (are) a curse. Calling it art and putting it on display in the Tate Gallery tells us more than we want to know about the pathology of curation but doesn't alter the fact that spray-paint on other people's buildings is a miserable and cowardly crime.
It should be stopped and it can be. So why do the authorities in Prague - of all places - seem to tolerate the besmirching of the City's visual splendour by teenage morons who (Lord help them) can think of no better way to make their mark?
There are various antidotes which have been tried and tested in numerous places:
- Night-time patrols to spot and deter the spray-painters.
- Serious fines and/or detention sentences for perpetrators.
- Instant over-painting (this seems to discourage the vandals).
- Anti-graffiti paint (expensive but effective) on vulnerable buildings.
- Natural barricades - for example, shrubs - to protect exposed walls.
Who pays? In most cases, the cost of defeating graffiti is met jointly by the municipality and by property-owners. This could surely work here in Prague. If not, the cost of seeing this extraordinary city's appearance steadily disfigured will be met by everyone.