The suspected vandals behind widespread cartoon graffiti plaguing Victorian landmarks are set to be unmasked in court.
Police believe they have caught the graffiti vandals responsible for the “Pam the Bird” and “Srock” tags, which have sprung up on Melbourne trains, buildings and other highly visible landmarks in the city.
A 21-year-old Yarraville man was to face court on Friday after being arrested and charged with 50 offences, including criminal damage, burglary, shop theft and stealing a motor vehicle.
Police have had their eyes on him for “quite some time” and said he was the sole creator of “Pam the Bird”.
They claimed he worked in cahoots with a 39-year-old Abbotsford man, who uses the “Srock” tag and has been charged with more than 20 criminal damage offences linked to graffiti on suburban trains and a building in Melbourne’s Docklands.
“We believe we have the people responsible for ‘Pam the Bird’ and the ‘Srock’ graffiti tag,” Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Jason Wombwell said on Friday.
In one of the most high-profile incidents, police will allege the 21-year-old scaled and defaced the heritage-listed Flinders Street Railway Station clock tower in July 2024.
Police believe he is also responsible for graffiti plastered across the rail network, the “Cheese Stick” column on CityLink, a Docklands TV station building and concrete silos in Geelong.
The golden Novotel Hotel on Collins Street is the latest site targeted, with the bird painted under its logo with the words “He He Meow” below it on January 20.
The total damage bill from all of graffiti allegedly linked to the pair is estimated to be more than $100,000.
While some people may find it funny, Wombwell said it was no laughing matter for taxpayers and business owners.
“V/Line and Metro trains, they’re definitely not finding it funny when they’re paying tens of thousands of dollars to clean it up,” he said.
“Not only that, it’s caused a disruption to public transport network users and people in the CBD, while this vandalism gets cleaned up.”
Police believe there have been hundreds of the tags painted across the city, with Wombwell noting they were particularly prevalent on major roads in Melbourne’s west.
“They’re everywhere,” he said.
There was speculation the vandals may have used a fireman’s key to access off-limit sites. But none was found in police raids on two addresses on Thursday.
Instead they uncovered and seized abseiling equipment and items believed to have been used to gain entry to buildings.
Victorian Police Minister Anthony Carbines said the accused vandals could face up to two years behind bars if found guilty.
“I saw a fair bit of ‘Pam the Bird’ on the way out to Point Cook [in Melbourne’s outer west] today,” he said.
“They’re talking points … we all know that graffiti, you can make your excuses about it but in the end you’re breaking the law, and it’s not clever and it’s not smart, and it’s a scourge that we need to stamp out.”
The 21-year-old has also been charged over an unrelated incident in Footscray, where a stolen car was driven through the front window of a restaurant in December.
-AAP
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