Hong Kong top court vandalised with paint splatter at base of pillar
- Man threw purple paint on ground outside Court of Final Appeal Building in Central and fled, according to security guard
- The complex is a city monument steeped in history, and served as the final appeal court only since 2015
Hong Kong’s top court was vandalised on Tuesday, with paint splattered at the base of a pillar of the historic building.
Police were notified by a security guard, who said a man threw purple paint from a cup near the main entrance of the Court of Final Appeal Building on Jackson Road in Central at about 4.10pm.
The culprit fled, leaving paint splashed across an area on the ground about three metres in diameter, and also tainting the base of a pillar.
A paper cup from fast-food chain McDonald’s was found in a nearby flower bed. No arrests have been made.
The court complex is also known as the Old Supreme Court Building. Its exterior was classified as a city monument under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance in 1984.
The building housed the former Supreme Court from 1912 to 1983.
During the Japanese military occupation of Hong Kong from 1942 to 1945, the building became the headquarters of the Kempeitai, or military police, of the Imperial Japanese Army.
The city’s judiciary facilities have also been targets of attacks from suspected anti-government protesters over the year.
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In early December, protesters also hurled petrol bombs at the Court of Final Appeal Building and the High Court in Admiralty. The entrances of both buildings were set alight and blackened.
A month before, a similar incident occurred at Sha Tin Court when a flower bed was set on fire, damaging some trees there.
In early November last year, the former Tseun Wan Court on Tai Ho Road, which had ceased operations from 2016, also came under a petrol bomb attack, with a tree damaged. The incident was the first of such acts against judiciary structures since the civil unrest, sparked by the now-withdrawn extradition bill, erupted last June.