Heidi Donat/Flickr

Graffiti in Qatar Heidi Donat/Flickr

A new dramatic video is urging Qatar residents to keep the country clean by refraining from spray-painting absurd or offensive messages and images in public spaces.

This week, Qatar’s Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) launched an awareness drive about the “uncivilized behavior.”

On Twitter, the ministry said “Writing on walls is prohibited and against our moral and traditional values.”

#لا_تشوهامعا للحد من ظاهرة الكتابة على الجدران أنت تشوه بلدك .. انت تشوه ذاتكhttps://t.co/UeyPHp4Gs8#بيئة_قطر #قطر #QatarEnvironment

— البلدية والبيئة (@albaladiya) January 30, 2017

It showed a brief video of a boy spray-painting a wall, who then finds himself covered in the black paint he was using to deface property.

“Dirty your country, dirty yourself,” the video warns.

Legal graffiti

Not all graffiti in Qatar is illegal.

The government appears to be discouraging residents from marking up walls and other property without permission.

Chantelle d'Mello / Doha News

Art installation at Qatar Academy Chantelle d'Mello / Doha News

This is different from sanctioned graffiti projects by artists, such as el Seed’s murals on Salwa Road and artwork painted by students at Qatar Foundation.

Do you think graffiti is a problem in Qatar? Thoughts?

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