Street sign for Free Ukraine Square stolen in Polish city of Gdynia

Unknown vandals have stolen a street sign that reads "Plac Wolnej Ukrainy" (Free Ukraine Square) in the Polish city of Gdynia.

Source: Oleh Vysochan, Ukraine's consul in Gdańsk, in a comment to Ukrinform, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Vysochan said the Ukrainian consulate has asked local police to identify and detain those responsible.

"This happened last Friday night. When the news broke, we immediately contacted the police and sent them an official request. We are also in contact with the city authorities. The police launched a search right away, but the perpetrators have not yet been caught," said Vysochan.

The police have issued a public appeal for any information that could help identify the vandals, he said.

Vysochan emphasised that Ukraine views this act not merely as hooliganism, but as "a provocation aimed at defiling symbols of our friendship."

He also noted that this is the fourth such incident in the past two years. In a previous case the perpetrator, who did not hide their face and filmed the act of vandalism, was apprehended.

"We remain in constant contact with the police. I want to stress that such acts of vandalism and hooliganism can in no way undermine the firm foundation of Ukrainian-Polish relations and friendship," Vysochan said.

He added that in the previous cases, the city authorities restored the stolen signs at their own expense.

Background:

• Unidentified perpetrators recently vandalised a monument to the Home Army, the predominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during the Second World War, at the Central Cemetery in Szczecin, Poland.
• Polish authorities have also investigated an incident in which a revolutionary red-and-black OUN flag and the slogan "Glory to the UPA" were painted on a monument to the victims of the Volyn tragedy. [The Volyn (Volhynia) tragedy was a series of events that led to the ethnic cleansing of Polish and Ukrainian populations in 1943 during the Second World War. The OUN (Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists) was a Ukrainian nationalist political group, and the UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) was its military wing, involved in armed resistance – ed.]

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