Multiple BU Buildings Defaced over Hong Kong Protests

Graffiti, like this on the College of Arts & Sciences, was scrawled on seven campus locations last week. Photo by Jackie Ricciardi Campus & Facilities Multiple BU Buildings Defaced over Hong Kong Protests University police seek public’s help in finding vandals

After vandals defaced seven University addresses last week with messages supporting Hong Kong’s democracy protesters, the Boston University Police Department (BUPD) is asking for the public’s help in identifying those who did it. Cleaning off the paint could run to “many tens of thousands of dollars,” says Tom Daley, associate vice president for facilities management and operations.“The graffiti was of a ‘free Hong Kong’ nature,” referencing months of protests over increasing Chinese control that have rocked the Far East city, Daley says. Of the seven addresses vandalized (some BU buildings have multiple addresses), six of them were on the 700 block of Commonwealth Avenue, near the BU Bridge, including the College of Arts & Sciences and the School of Law. The seventh site was BU Hillel on Bay State Road. (The damaged addresses: 700 Comm Ave, 705 Comm Ave, 725 Comm Ave, 728 Comm Ave, 735 Comm Ave, 765 Comm Ave, and 213 Bay State Rd.)









The reason removing the graffiti will be so costly is that the exteriors of some of the buildings are porous, absorbing the paint into the finish and requiring mechanical refinishing to remove the graffiti, Daley says.

“All incidents seem to have occurred between 2 and 4 am” on Friday, November 15, says Kelly Nee, chief of the BUPD. She requests anyone with information about the graffiti to contact her department. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous can call 617-353-6515 or text to the number 847411, which on a traditional phone pad is TIP411. Enter the keyword “BU,” then a space, then the message. Once this is done, you will no longer have to type “BU” for each message you send.

