Vandals target Satakunta newspaper with brick and knife

A local newspaper in Satakunta was targeted in an overnight act of vandalism, with a brick thrown through its newsroom window and a vehicle’s tyres slashed, Yle reports. The newspaper’s editor-in-chief says the damage was clearly directed at the publication.

The incident at Kankaanpään Seutu, a local newspaper serving Northern Satakunta, took place between Saturday and Sunday. The vehicle’s side mirrors were also broken.

Editor-in-chief Pekka Söderlund said nearby buildings had been checked and other cars in the parking lot had not suffered similar damage. He described the vandalism as carefully carried out and said a message had been carved into the brick, though he could not make sense of it.

“This is clearly directed at us. I’m really surprised,” Söderlund told Yle. He said the message included a combination of letters and an image, adding that it seemed to be a way of giving reader feedback.

A criminal complaint has been filed. Police in South-West Finland confirmed that they had recorded a report of suspected criminal damage.

Marjo Keski-Heikkilä, a journalist who has worked at the newspaper for about 20 years, was on duty that weekend but was not there when the vandalism happened. She said the incident had shaken her sense of safety. “My first reaction was to wonder: the world is a little sick. What could make someone do something like that? This is far from a joke,” she said.

Kim Huovinlahti, editor-in-chief of two other local publications in Satakunta, said media criticism was acceptable when expressed appropriately. He said criticism of news stories could increasingly become personal criticism of the journalists who wrote them.