A group of vandals targeted the historic Government Palace (Valtioneuvoston linna in Finnish) building, located beside Senate Square in Helsinki, and defaced the entrance with red paint.
Juha Pallaspuro, acting head of security at the Government Palace, told Finnish News Agency STT that around midnight on Thursday, five masked individuals dressed in black defaced the palace doors, walls, and staircase with a red substance that appeared to be a mixture of water and paint.
Pallaspuro told Yle that the perpetrators fled to Hallituskatu. The police arrived at the scene about ten minutes later but could not catch the perpetrators.
The suspects or group responsible for the vandalism have not been located, and their motive remains unknown.
"We were not left with any messages, notes, or writings, nor have we been contacted about the matter in any other way," Pallaspuro told STT.
The Helsinki Police have filed a crime report and are investigating the incident as vandalism.
Pallaspuro said that the Government Palace is providing surveillance camera footage, and the police confirmed that recordings of the incident are available.
Pallaspuro said that cleaning of the entrance began around 8:45am and the red colouring was cleaned off within approximately an hour.
The 200-year-old Government Palace old houses some departments of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Finance, and the Office of the Chancellor of Justice.
