Graffiti, who removes what?

The municipality only removes graffiti, stickers and posters on municipal objects.

Municipal objects

All objects standing in public spaces such as:

  • street furniture (litter bins, benches, lampposts, traffic lights, signs, cabinets, planters, posting pillars, drop-off pillars of underground waste containers)
  • engineering structures (bridges, viaducts, tunnels, noise barriers, quay walls)
  • schools, gymnasiums, swimming pools and other municipal buildings
  • visual arts
  • playgrounds (playground equipment, fencing)

Graffiti will be removed within a few working days after detection or notification. Obscene, racist or offensive texts will even be removed within 24 hours.

Not owned by the municipality:

  • stations (RandstadRail)
  • bus shelters (glass bus stops)
  • mailboxes
  • above-ground (clothing) containers
  • information and advertising signs (triangle signs, billboards)

As far as possible, the owners of these are notified by the municipality when a report is received and/or daubing is observed.

Private properties

When daubing occurs on private property, the owner (landlord) is responsible for removal. Sometimes this is covered by building insurance. In that case, contact the insurance company.

Reporting graffiti?

You can:

Include with your report:

  • Where the graffti is located (e.g., school, tunnel, wall, trash can)
  • and in what place (for example, at the level of street name, on lamppost number + in front of house number ..., on facade, door, or front/rear)

A photo is always very welcome. This saves the employee who has to remove it a lot of search time.

Cost

Approximately €33,000 is spent annually on the removal of graffiti, stickers and posters and their prevention. Costs are recovered from perpetrators, whenever possible.

You can see what graffiti costs us all. The cost of removal and cleaning is for the municipality and thus paid by all of us. Therefore, we call on you to stop graffiti together. Talk about it with your children and speak to each other.

Legal graffiti

There are 2 places in Zoetermeer where graffiti is allowed within the applicable rules:

  • graffiti tunnel on Boerhaavepad (bicycle and pedestrian tunnel under Afrikaweg)
  • graffiti wall at the skate track in the Burgemeester Vernède-sports park

Graffiti in other places is not allowed and therefore punishable.

Show that graffiti is not normal. We are counting on your help.

If you see something being daubed, call the police(0900-8844) or Report Crime Anonymous(0800-7000). If the perpetrators are already gone, report the daubing to the municipality.