A campaign has been launched to raise awareness of ‘heritage crime’ in Scotland and it follows a series of vandalism attacks on ancient monuments such as St Anthony’s chapel in Edinburgh.
BBC News writes:
The Crimestoppers charity said such incidents were on the rise and that the cost to the public purse was thought to be ‘significant’. It is now calling on people to report offences like graffiti, metal theft and fire-raising anonymously. Scotland is home to;
- six UNESCO World Heritage sites
- has more than 8,000 scheduled monuments
- 44 protected shipwrecks
- and 47,000 listed buildings.
In February 2019 a large graffiti tag was spray-painted onto the wall of St Anthony’s which is beneath Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh. Angela Parker, national manager for Crimestoppers in Scotland, said: ‘This spectacular ruin is of a late medieval date, and sits picturesquely in Holyrood Park. The park, and the chapel, are a scheduled monument – and this graffiti activity is a crime. Cleaning the spray paint off the centuries-old masonry is a delicate and time-consuming process, taking resources away from maintaining the park for locals and visitors to enjoy. It is not always possible to remove the graffiti, leaving permanent marks of vandalism…’
… The Scottish government Culture Secretary, Fiona Hyslop said: ‘We all have a part to play in reporting crime and I welcome the campaign being launched today. This collaborative approach between Crimestoppers and the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime is another important step towards the prevention of harm to Scotland’s heritage in the rural environment.’
