‘Vandal’ who daubed graffiti across Lisbon’s Discoveries monument could face five years in jail

The ‘vandal’ who daubed graffiti across the base of Lisbon’s iconic monument to the Discoveries at the weekend (click here) has now been identified, and is presumed to have returned to her native France. An art student in Paris and self-styled political activist, Leila Lakel, appears to have done this kind of thing before, and may end up in a lot of hot water over her Lisbon intervention. According to TVI, police in Portugal are seeking the assistance of counterparts in France to bring the young woman to ‘justice’. The monument has since been cleaned, at a cost of over €2,000 – but the young student potentially faces the crime of “qualified damage”, which carries a maximum prison sentence in Portugal of five years.