Property Damage Through Stickers and Graffiti

The city of Neukirchen-Vluyn in North Rhine-Westphalia has filed a criminal complaint against persons unknown.

In recent weeks, an increasing number of stickers and graffiti targeting hobby hunters have appeared throughout the city of Neukirchen-Vluyn — on rubbish bins, traffic light poles, street signs, and most recently on election posters. This constitutes criminal damage to public property. The city has filed a complaint against persons unknown.

“In the course of the pandemic, the overall number of cases of property damage and vandalism has risen”, noted Mayor Ralf Köpke. “This campaign, involving over 500 stickers and graffiti of the same kind, is particularly egregious. As a municipal administration, we cannot continue to tolerate such incidents and will pursue all available criminal law options..“

District Hunters' Association reports similar cases in the Moers area

Various hobby hunters in the region, including local game warden group leaders and board members of game warden associations, had already received mail back in March 2021: they found stickers with slogans and insults in their letterboxes (“I am an arsehole — I shoot animals”) targeting the hunting community.

„Hunters being targeted with hostility is nothing new. But this campaign already has the character of a threat. This represents an entirely new level”, commented Alfred Nimphius, chair of the district hunters' association. The district hunters' association is advising all those affected to file a criminal complaint.

The origin of the stickers is known

The origin of the stickers is known, as Sebastian Falke, press spokesperson for the Wesel District Hunters' Association, explains. They are distributing the stickers. “When it comes to insult and defamation, the limits of criticism have been reached”, he states. Disparaging content targeting the hunting community is also currently circulating on social media.

The offensive stickers were found in the mailboxes of hunters in Moers and Neukirchen-Vluyn, as well as on hunting stands in the Schaephuysen area, and also in Lintfort along streets. Anne Kneisel, deputy head of the Hegering for Lintfort-Neukirchen, adds: “They were also found in Vluyn on lampposts and signs in several streets.“

And: Among those affected by the mailbox drops were, for example, families with young children. “How are you supposed to explain something like that to them”, the mother wonders. Calling hobby hunters murderers is well below the belt. Similar reactions among a number of hunters in Moers: “We have the impression that active members of the hunting boards were deliberately tracked down via the internet and then sought out. Our members feel that they and their families are being threatened by this”, says Tim Schulz, chairman of the Hegering Moers.