# Creative Vandalism **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 27, 2022, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-vandalism/961774 "2022-03-27T04:21:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-vandalism/961774/1 "2022-03-27T04:21:32Z")
This set of creatively vandalized signs made me chuckle. Can you think of any good ones you’ve seen? > **[‘Mildly Vandalised’: 50 Examples Of Funny And Harmless Vandalism (New Pics)](https://www.boredpanda.com/mildly-vandalized-pics/)** > > Some people tell the system to go fudge itself in very creative and polite ways—with mild vandalism. Meanwhile, others find that gentle vandalism is the best way to spread some cheer. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-vandalism/961774/2 "2022-03-27T04:52:40Z")
I took a picture of this one from the NYC subway in 2020: [[Album] imgur.com ![](https://i.imgur.com/ZphX0sg.jpeg?fb "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/a/tpiiqwN) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-vandalism/961774/3 "2022-03-27T06:49:04Z")
Well. I made little green men out of popsicle sticks and green paint. I wired a green painted beer bottle top on them and painted the huge almond shaped eyes. I put them on tree stumps and little hollows on the gravel road edge. My thoughts were this would cause a stir in the community at large. Alas no one noticed. I mean come on peeps, don’t you pay attention? Several months maybe a year later one of Son-of-a-wrek friends was coming to my house. He came in and said, “Someone’s playing a prank on you guys!” and put the little raggedy green man on my table. I laughed and laughed. Son became alarmed. So he looked around and found 2. I’ve never revealed it was my prank. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-vandalism/961774/4 "2022-03-27T09:17:41Z")
This one was always a favourite- stared down onto the M32 in Bristol for years, until the eyes blew off in a storm. They did get replaced at least once, but last I saw the tree was eyeless. [![](https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.skLShkeeA8uAp_zMEba1rQHaE8&pid=Api) ](https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.skLShkeeA8uAp_zMEba1rQHaE8&pid=Api) Another favourite was done by a friend- the street litter bins had ‘litter’ written round the top, which, with a bit of glue and craft supplies, turned one into a sparkly glitter bin. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-vandalism/961774/5 "2022-03-27T09:26:11Z")
A footbridge overpass in Columbia, Maryland was covered with arcane graffiti. To which someone had added in small, legible writing: “Peace, through vandalism”. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-vandalism/961774/6 "2022-03-27T11:46:50Z")
When COVID was peaking there was a business near me that had a sign made with changeable letters that said “We are all in this together”. Every time I saw it I wanted to re-arrange the letters in the word “this”. mmm ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-vandalism/961774/7 "2022-03-27T11:51:39Z")
Two more from the same source as the OP. > **[134 Random Acts Of Genius Vandalism](https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-vandalism-street-art/)** > > When we talk about vandalism, as long as it doesn't involve actual Vandals sacking cities, many people would agree that some acts of vandalism are more funny than they are criminal. And what about culture jamming and public activism? While acts of... > **[30 Random Acts Of Genius Vandalism](https://www.boredpanda.com/creative-street-art-positive-vandalism/)** > > Even though vandalism is a criminal activity, it's not always wrong. Let's face it, creatives really do see beauty and humor in places where us mortals don't, so why not turn a blind eye to some of their shenanigans if they're making cities prettier? ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-vandalism/961774/8 "2022-03-27T12:00:58Z")
There was a large distillery nearby that sold off their used barrels, and it was common to see homeowners saw them in half and use them as planters. Vandals would tip the barrels over. Then it became the fashion to lay the planters/barrels on their sides and plant flowers so they looked like they were spilling out from the barrels. (Like a cornucopia.) Then the vandals started to vandalize them by tipping the barrels UPRIGHT. Either way, still done by creeps. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-vandalism/961774/9 "2022-03-27T22:35:18Z")
Richard Ankrom Is my hero. > **[The Guerrilla Artist Who Fixed L.A.'s Worst Freeway Sign](https://thelandmag.com/richard-ankrom-guerrilla-public-service-los-angeles-free/)** > > 20 years after his “Guerrilla Public Service” project, the artist Richard Ankrom looks back on the legendary freeway stunt and its legacy. This was the original germ of the idea: The California Department of Transportation had screwed up. For many years, if you were traveling north on the 110 in downtown Los Angeles and were intending to go north on the 5, there was no easily visible signage to prepare you for the sudden interchange. And it’s not just any interchange, either — it’s a strange corkscrew of an exit on the left side of the freeway, sneaking up on you at the end of a tunnel. Without a decent amount of warning, you would very likely miss it — and plenty of people certainly did — ending up halfway to Pasadena before realizing what had happened. Ankrom was one of those who had missed the exit before, so he decided to fix the problem himself. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-vandalism/961774/10 "2022-03-28T00:41:44Z")
At the McDonald’s in town, in the men’s stall, someone scratched off the “C” from “BABY CHANGING STATION”. Baby hanging station. I had a picture of it but don’t have it anymore. And of course, there’s this, from The Dark Knight: [![](https://i.redd.it/htb9aokljn431.jpg) ](https://i.redd.it/htb9aokljn431.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-vandalism/961774/11 "2022-03-28T02:27:43Z")
As you drive on the Outer Loop of the D.C. Beltway in Maryland, you’ll approach the [Washington Temple](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_D.C._Temple) of the LDS church, which opened in 1974. But before it was even open, a genius graffitist climbed up on a railway bridge at the end of the straightaway that gives the view of the temple, and painted “SURRENDER DOROTHY” in feathery black paint that looked just like the witch’s skywriting in the movie. [![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c8/e8/6f/c8e86ffec26d25bb81d69a5f8b102bef.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c8/e8/6f/c8e86ffec26d25bb81d69a5f8b102bef.jpg) Imagine that writing on the bridge in the picture below. [![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b69WxGeOAuM/Swi1tvFA2QI/AAAAAAAAAnA/YRcW-2DhsAc/s1600/100_4140.jpg) ](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b69WxGeOAuM/Swi1tvFA2QI/AAAAAAAAAnA/YRcW-2DhsAc/s1600/100_4140.jpg) It was a thing of beauty. According to the “[Surrender Dorothy](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrender_Dorothy)” Wiki page, “It was removed by the Maryland State Police;[4] however, it has been periodically repainted in various forms by equally unknown persons since the initial police removal.” But never as beautifully as the very first incarnation. Sadly, some quick Googling didn’t turn up any pictures of the first version. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-vandalism/961774/12 "2022-03-28T02:47:11Z")
Removed for lach of vanalism ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-vandalism/961774/13 "2022-03-28T03:10:59Z")
I know a fairly busy two lane street which had an odd and dangerous feature - a short, single lane tunnel. This was located at the bottom of a V-shaped slope, and you could not see the oncoming traffic on the other side of the tunnel very well, even though the tunnel might only be fifty feet long. It used to have yield signs on both sides of the tunnel. You would drive to the bottom of the hill, yield, make sure there was no obvious traffic coming the other way through the tunnel, cross your fingers - and go for it. I’m sure it was the site of hundreds of car accidents. On the other hand, it was so obviously dangerous that drivers were generally cautious and slow; maybe fewer accidents than you’d think. After many years, they finally replaced the yield signs with traffic lights - so there must have been some. Painted on both sides above the tunnel? The odd phrase - YES! A VERY SCARY HOUSE! When I was five, I thought that was hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-vandalism/961774/14 "2022-03-28T03:44:12Z")
I haven’t actually done it, but I always thought it would be fun to copy the first few pages of Moby Dick (or War and Peace) on the seat of the Galaxy Chair at Heavenly Valley ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-vandalism/961774/15 "2022-03-28T03:51:59Z")
I spotted this almost two years ago. Not shown well here, you need to click on it to see it better. [[Album] Covid fun ![](https://i.imgur.com/kQ5PJnF.jpeg?fb "Covid fun") ](https://imgur.com/gallery/JK5COV7) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-vandalism/961774/16 "2022-03-28T04:39:34Z")
Not exactly vandalism (since my neighbor did it herself), but I think it fits here: > **[ImageBam](https://www.imagebam.com/view/ME8YR3P)** > > Image Hosting, Image Upload, Picture Hosting ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-vandalism/961774/17 "2022-03-28T14:23:59Z")
An act of self-vandalism by the owner of this demolished house went viral a few years ago: “Got the spider!” [![](https://images.hindustantimes.com/rf/image_size_630x354/HT/p2/2019/07/20/Pictures/_5dc395f4-aad7-11e9-bdb2-acd0277ecbef.jpg) ](https://images.hindustantimes.com/rf/image_size_630x354/HT/p2/2019/07/20/Pictures/_5dc395f4-aad7-11e9-bdb2-acd0277ecbef.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-vandalism/961774/18 "2022-03-28T15:55:18Z")
My favorite one – which I hope was for real originally, and not a joke – wasan addition to what used to be ubiquitous ads in NYC subway cars beck around 1970 > [@](#): > > f u cn rd ths u cn bcm a scy n gt a gd jb underneath which someone had written > [@](#): > > fk nxn ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-vandalism/961774/19 "2022-03-28T16:28:24Z")
Not necessarily vandalism, if it was done by the book’s owner: [![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cd69oqtXIAEf62y?format=jpg&name=small) ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cd69oqtXIAEf62y?format=jpg&name=small) ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-vandalism/961774/20 "2022-03-28T16:59:45Z")
I had access to the shop at Boeing that made many of the placards used on their airplanes. I made 50 of these stickers. Over the years I have installed about 30 on hand dryers in restrooms and gave away some. I still have 4 left, I will need to make some more soon. The oldest that is still installed is in a nearby Safeway. That sticker has been on the dryer for at least 20 years. [![](https://www.24a11y.com/wp-content/uploads/push-button-receive-bacon-300x179.png) ](https://www.24a11y.com/wp-content/uploads/push-button-receive-bacon-300x179.png) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-vandalism/961774.md?page=2)