Graffiti scoured away on 1.3 km stretch in downtown Athens

A large-scale operation by cleaning crews of the Athens municipality to remove smudges and graffiti from building walls, shop shutters, planters, marble columns and phone booths was completed on Tuesday on Ermou, the capital's commercial high street.

Crews cleaned an area of almost 1,700 square meters within a week, over a distance of 1.3 kilometers, stretching from the beginning of Ermou Street at Syntagma Square to Agion Asomaton in Thiseio.

Athens Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis stressed that such operations are now part and parcel of the municipality's policies.

"Anti-graffiti campaigns are part of the comprehensive Athens cleaning plan, coordinated and regular," he said.