Mooka, Tochigi Prefecture – The government of this city in eastern Japan has painted strawberries, a local delicacy, on the grates of its gutters to prevent them from being stolen.
The mayor of Mooka City, Tochigi Prefecture, recently announced at a press conference that city government workers had spray-painted the design on a total of 59 grilles in 19 locations, mostly in areas where grilles are most frequently stolen.
The city has seen a spate of grille thefts: 6 incidents with 25 thefts in FY2022, 25 incidents with 40 thefts in FY2023, and 11 incidents with 23 thefts by the end of June this fiscal year. Without covers, vehicles and pedestrians are at risk of falling into gutters, so there is an urgent need to take action to prevent thefts.
One way to prevent theft is to use metal fixtures to hold the grates in place, but this method is expensive and difficult to maintain. So the city decided to mark the grates with spray paint, a less expensive and easier approach. The logo features a strawberry, as the city is the largest strawberry producer in Japan.
This marking was apparently intended to deter theft, as “painted grates are not for sale,” and to indicate that stolen items belong to the city if sold or during an investigation.
”We will continue to increase road patrols and markings to maintain safe road conditions,” a city official said.
Post time: Mar-19-2025