HKU Lennon Wall with Protest Messages sabaotaged

Legal actions may be taken against around 30 people who sabotaged the university’s Lennon wall covered with support messages for protesters on Saturday, the University of Hong Kong’s student union said. 

The student union has appealed to peers to join rebuilding efforts next Tuesday, warning a possible “escalation of action” if the school’s management does not pursue the case. 

This comes as two videos circulated online shows a group of outsiders walking into the university and tearing down the posters on four Lennon walls there. 

In the footage provided by a student witness posted on the student union’s Facebook page, the group, consisting of mostly middle-aged people with tools, tearing up posters within minutes on the campus’s U-Street - where the Lennon walls and the student union are situated. 

Some of the posters on Lennon walls read “revolution is blameless, upheaval with grounds”, as well as “you can tear down Lennon walls, you cannot tear down ideas”.

Meanwhile, some members of the group were heard shouting “we’re here to clean up the garbage in Hong Kong! Clean Hong Kong!” and cussing at the same time. 

In another footage uploaded to Facebook by a group called “Hong Kong With One Heart”, a woman - a member of the group, said that she and other members were at the scene to “cleanse” the campus.

Faces of members taking part in the action were blurred out in the footage. 

“We are a group of ordinary Hong Kong citizens...Our group does not exist as its own entity or as an organization, nor do we get paid [to carry out the action],” the woman said. 

“This reason we carry out this action is that we don’t want our children to study in such a  dirty university.” 

The group was also seen entering the building of the student union to tear off posters on its glass doors. 

Security guards were not seen stopping the group’s action, however. 

“Hong Kong With One Heart” describes itself on Facebook as formed by a group of residents who “love the country and Hong Kong” and does not tolerate “black violence” - referring to the actions of black bloc protesters amid the anti-government protests.

In a photo provided by the university's news page on Facebook, the student union’s banner is seen having been dragged down near a Lennon wall. 

The spokesman for the university said that at around 7 pm on Saturday, around 30 people walked from the HKU MTR station to U-street to remove a batch of posters on the Lennon walls. 

“When security guards caled for reinforcement, the group started to leave,” he said. 

“The university deeply regrets that similar acts of destruction have repeatedly occurred on campus, and reiterates that damage to campus facilities and displays by any organization or persons will not be tolerated.

The student union condemned the vandalism by the group, saying it is a manifesting threat to the students’ freedom of speech. 

“The Union strives to safeguard the freedom of expression of students. We shall never tolerate any vandalisms of the Lennon Walls,” the union said. 

“We shall stand firm against tyranny and self-censorship in this last bastion of freedom of speech. The Hong Kong University Students’ Union hereby call for Rebuilding of HKU's Lennon Wall.” 

An HKU student who was studying nearby arrived at the scene to clean up the mess after he learned about the accident. 

“I feel like my school is being destroyed. I love my school so much,” the student said.

Another HKU student said he felt so angry at the incident where what the security guards did was inappropriate. 

"What were the the group of security guards even doing there," he said. 

It was the second time since the Lennon walls on the HKU campus had been vandalized since July this year. 

At least eight white-clad people were seen tearing down posters on the walls. 

The world's first Lennon wall was found in Prague, the Czech Republic in the 1980s to commemorate the death of John Lennon, a member of the Liverpool-based band The Beatles. 

Apart from graffti and lyrics of the band's song, the wall has been covered with protest-related messages as well.