Taipei, Aug. 26 (CNA) Police said Saturday they are investigating four cases over the past two weeks in which vandals spray-painted graffiti on train carriages across Taiwan.
In the most recently reported incident, the Taipei Rapid Transit Co. (TRTC) said Saturday that two individuals trespassed into its depot in Beitou in the early hours of Aug. 24 and spent 30 minutes spray painting graffiti on two carriages.
According to the Criminal Investigation Bureau, the perpetrators who sprayed graffiti on trains owned by the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) and local mass rapid transit (MRT) system operators may belong to the same group or different groups working in collaboration with each other.
Possible ways to identify the perpetrators is to examine surveillance camera footage, or graffiti styles such as the fonts and colors used, the bureau said.
The series of defacement cases started on Aug. 12, when an EMU3000 train stopped at a TRA’s depot in Shulin District, New Taipei was vandalized.
Meanwhile, in a second incident on Aug. 24, a spare train stopped near the Taichung MRT’s High Speed Rail station was vandalized with graffiti by two people using spray paint at around 9 p.m., the system’s operator said.
Coincidentally, Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp. reported at 4 a.m. on Aug. 25 that two trains — one at the Daliao Depot and the other at North Depot — had been vandalized.
The three MRT operators are planning to seek compensation jointly from the vandals, the TRTC said.
Under the Mass Rapid Transit Act, those who trespass on control areas to tamper with railway properties could be subject to a fine ranging from NT$10,000 (US$322) to NT$1 million.
