The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transportation has used 14 types of solvent to remove vandalizing paint on the newly-opened Thu Thiem 2 Bridge but that effort has proved fruitless, its deputy director Bui Hoa An said at a meeting on Thursday.

The bridge, officially opened to traffic on April 28, has been smeared with paint and graffiti.

The vandalism is taking place at not only the Thu Thiem 2 Bridge but also many other structures across the city, including metro line No. 1.

In order to restore the new bridge to its original state, the municipal transport department used 14 types of solvent to remove the paint and graffiti.

But the substances failed to dissolve them.

The department is thus considering covering the bridge with a new coat of paint, according to An.

The price of the paint the department intends to buy, however, is as expensive as VND300,000 (US$13) per square meter.

The transport department also plans to beef up patrol efforts and raise people’s awareness in order to prevent such vandalism on other intact structures.

Le Manh Ha, an official at the municipal Department of Public Security, said that his agency has handled seven people in four different cases of vandalism in Thu Duc, a district-level city in Ho Chi Minh City, in the first half of this year, imposing a fine of VND1.5 million ($64) on each violator.

Anyone who covers public buildings with spray paint or graffiti without permission from local authorities are subject to a penalty of VND1-2 million ($43-85), according to Ha.

The violators must also restore the vandalized structures to their original condition.

Ha noted that besides the vandals, some street artists have decorated public construction works around the city with artistic paintings.

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