The acting mayor of Helsinki has been caught spraying graffiti, and the clean-up costs thousands of euros

Acting mayor and alderman of culture Paavo Arhnamaki, 46, was arrested last week by guards who were painting a wall in a railway tunnel with a friend. The police are investigating the accident due to vandalism and disruption of trains, which has to be temporarily stopped due to the accident. The tunnel is used to transport goods to and from the port of Helsinki. It is not yet clear if charges will be filed.

Arinmäki, who was Minister of Culture in the Finnish government between 2011 and 2014, expressed regret, but refused to step down as an alderman. He is supported by his party, the Left Alliance. In a Facebook message, he spoke of a “ridiculous act” on Sunday. “It was foolish to paint there when there were also permitted walls. It was also foolish to think that no trains would run during the middle of summer, and so we could paint there.”

Arinmake, who also made graffiti art in his youth and is known as a Street Art Champion, explained on Facebook how he made this representation. “Since there are legal graffiti walls, I sometimes paint with friends of my childhood. In addition to the walls where it is allowed, there are many places in Helsinki where you are not allowed to paint, but it is not bothered either. The railway tunnel was one of these places. The walls are painted since years and only drivers see it when they pass by.”

take over the world

This action sparked a lot of discussion on social media. It costs Finnish capital €650,000 a year to remove illegal graffiti. It’s one of the reasons why walls are available as legal spray areas.

The work was removed by municipal cleaners on Monday. Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat He posted a photo of the work, which, according to the newspaper, was inspired by graffiti from New York in the 1970s. According to the acting mayor, it was a representation of his old neighborhood of Pasila in Helsinki.

Among the works he had the English text World domination and great career moves Written (world domination and great career moves), the joke, according to Arinmake, “now turns out to be very true”.