Pavement Messengers Remain a Mystery
A spate of pavement writing in Oxford remains an unsolved mystery this week, as police attempt to decipher who has been voicing their opinions on the city's streets and why. The inscriptions, which range from the political "Jesus wouldn't vote Tory" to the strange "Ted Heath is still playing with his organ" and the downright bizarre "Mo Mowlam wasn't an Oxford reject, she went to Durham" are all written, and have been re-sprayed periodically, in black paint. It is not clear whether the instances are connected or completely independent - what is obvious, though, is that there are several different sentiments being expressed, leading to speculation that some of the new messages have been written as comic responses to the more serious writings, which appeared around two weeks ago. The Thames Valley Police say that they are "still looking" for the culprits, but admitted that they have no major leads in the investigation as yet. Speculation and rumour has centered around a number of possible sources for the graffiti, including student protesters and religious groups, however it seems unlikely that anyone is likely to come forward and claim responsibility.
Attempts have been made by Oxford City Council to remove the graffiti, although its re-appearance suggests that its authors are not about to give up on the writing campaign. A spokesman for the Police did add that the authorities are taking a dim view of the incidents: "graffiti is destructive, unsightly and is a serious matter." Anyone with any information regarding the identity of the mystery writers is urged to contact the incident desk on 01865 200333.
24th Jan 2002