The Committee for Improvement of St. Petersburg is urging residents to respect and protect the city’s floral arrangements following a rise in thefts and damage to public flowerbeds. Authorities report that numerous instances of flower disappearances have been recorded across the city.

Recently, 13 petunia seedlings vanished from the Priluksky Square flowerbeds, located at the intersection of Ligovsky Prospekt and Prilukskaya Street. Similar incidents have been reported this year in Murinsky Park, on Kultury Avenue, Grazhdansky and Svetlanovsky Avenues, and other locations throughout the city.

The Committee’s press service issued a statement emphasizing the effort put into beautifying St. Petersburg. They plead with citizens not to dig up, trample, or destroy the plants, appealing to their civic duty to preserve the environment for everyone. “These flowers are planted by specialists to make our city cozy and comfortable. Please do not dig up plants, do not trample them and do not destroy them. Let’s take care of what has been created for us and our guests together,” the committee stated.

Citizens are reminded that violating the Rules for the Protection of Green Spaces carries a penalty. Fines range from 3,000 to 5,000 rubles for individuals, 5,000 to 30,000 rubles for officials, and 50,000 to 500,000 rubles for legal entities. Moreover, stealing flowers from public flowerbeds can lead to charges of hooliganism or theft.

Anyone witnessing acts of vandalism against public greenery is asked to report the incident to the police by calling 112.