Sprayers smear buildings and monuments in Neuchâtel

The police were informed by several citizens that numerous acts of vandalism had been committed in various places, the Neuchâtel cantonal police told the Keystone-SDA news agency on Tuesday. "We are in the process of taking stock of the situation with the help of the other services of the municipalities concerned," said a spokeswoman.

It is still too early to establish a link between the crime scenes, the spokeswoman said, referring to reports from the online portal Arcinfo and the local radio station RTN.

Charges filed by the town

The city of Neuchâtel will press charges, its communications department told Keystone-SDA on request. It is currently compiling a complete inventory of all the spray-painting on its buildings in order to be able to file a comprehensive complaint.

In recent days, graffiti has appeared on numerous buildings in Neuchâtel, including the Ethnographic Museum, the Temple du Bas, the Collège Latin and on buildings and stairs at the harbor.

One or more people have sprayed anti-clerical graffiti on the collegiate church. The religious building, built around 1190, was recently restored.