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"Not all vandalism is created equal. \nSome artists operate under the firm belief that they have to bring art to the streets. They spray graffiti on walls, paint murals, create public sculptures and more. Sometimes it's a collective of people who manage to turn a public space into an art installation.\nSee also: 20 Unexpected Pieces of Sharpie Art\nHowever, public art isn\u2019t always approved. Art styles like graffiti have long been frowned upon by governments for being a destructive vandalization of public property. \nBut street art occurs anyway. In fact, some pieces have managed to rise above the legal condemnation, turning into mainstay pieces that unite public audiences. What was once considered vandalism often acquires substantial meaning and an intense following.\nHere are some acts of vandalism that have gone on to be considered works of art in their own right. \n\n\nDefacing Property Becomes Art\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n1. Paris Love Locks\n\nCouples from all over the world flock to Paris for good luck. They bring a padlock to the Pont des Arts bridge, lock it on, then toss the key into the Seine River. \nThere are thousands of locks on the bridge, a symbol of hopeless romanticism that Paris represents. However, plenty of Parisians aren't fond of the act, and a large petition (started by two American women) received more than 1,600 signatures to have the locks removed. \nJean-Pierre Lecoq, the mayor of the 6th arrondisement (district) told USA Today that the locks weighed down the bridge. Officials have also removed a chunk of the padlocks, replacing part of the bridge with a wooden board. \nHowever, that hasn't stopped many tourists from going to the bridge and attaching their padlocks anyway. \n\n\nImage: JD https://www.flickr.com/people/jdbaskin/\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n2. Seattle's Gum Wall\n\nYup, the image you're looking at is a wall decorated entirely with old gum. In the early '90s, people waiting in line for Seattle's Market Theatre would put their gum on the wall. Over the years, more and more gum was accrued until the wall became a gooey, colorful display. \nOfficials from Pike Place Market, where the theater is housed, asked for the buildup to be removed in the wall's early days. However, by around 1998, the gum wall gained a reputation with tourists and natives alike, viewed as installation rather than vandalism. \n\n\nImage: Flickr, Keegan Jones\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n3. Oscar Wilde's grave\n\nIn his day, Oscar Wilde was a celebrated author and playwright, noted for his wit and romantic streak. More than 100 years later, he's still a famous icon in the literary world. \nFans trek from all over to visit his grave in the Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. But they don't just leave flowers -- they leave bright red lipstick kisses and scrawl messages onto his aged tombstone.\nThe kissing tradition began in the late '90s. However, it didn't sit well with Wilde's descendants, particularly his grandson, Merlin Holland. He raised money with French authorities and the Irish government in 2011 to have the stone restored, then surrounded by a glass wall. \nAnd yet, the glass is already covered with new kisses. \n\n\nImage: Flickr, Richard Bartlett\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n4. My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love\n\n\nIt was the kiss seen 'round the world. \nIn 1979, Erich Honecker and Leonid Brezhnev were photographed in a \"fraternal kiss,\" a form of greeting between leaders of the former U.S.S.R.\nIn 1990, artist Dmitri Vrubel set out to paint a mural of the photograph on the Berlin Wall. Widely celebrated, the painting is one of the more famous works on the wall and is a popular tourist attraction. \nDespite its acclaim, German authorities removed the painting in 2009 in order to preserve the wall, which had deteriorated over the years. Vrubel was angry about the removal, but was given a check and invited to repaint the mural once the wall had been restored. \n\n\nImage: Flickr, Maeve Brennan\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n5. Man Hanging Out\n\n\nDavid Cerny is the Czech Republic's agent provocateur. The installation sculpture artist first rose to fame in 1991, for painting a World War II memorial in Prague a bright, bubblegum pink. It was a monument of a war tank used by the Soviet Army. Cerny was arrested for the work, and has since enjoyed his controversial career. \nHe often creates sculptures and puts them around Prague. One successful example was the 1996 work Man Hanging Out, which depicted psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud hanging from a pole in Prague.\nThough his previous work, like the tank, had been removed, the dangling Freud delighted the art world, and it was exhibited in other countries, including Chicago, London and Berlin. And yes, people have called the police upon seeing the sculpture, because it looks like a real man.  \n\n\nImage: Flickr, Antoine SIPOS\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n6. Everything by Banksy\n\nHe's the father of graffiti. Banksy's everywhere, creating work in England, all over the United States and Israel, and he's as celebrated by the art world as he is despised by the legal one. \nThe artist, whose identity is unknown, grew up in an English neighborhood called Bristol, honing his stencil graffiti style by the time he turned 18. He moved to London in the late '90s, garnering attention for his graffiti and pranks, which included strolling into major museums and installing his own work.\nHis work has become so celebrated that people take crowbars to try and hack off chunks of his art. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie once spent one million dollars at an auction for one of his pieces.\nIt's a combination of things that make Banksy so celebrated: his sociopolitical messages, his mysterious persona and, most importantly, his creativity. The exclusivity of his work also encourages the cult-like following that surrounds him. \nHowever, not everyone sees eye-to-eye on Banksy's cult status. Many of the artist's works in Australia were painted over. When asked about the artist, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, \"Look, graffiti does ruin people\u2019s property and it\u2019s a sign of decay and loss of control.\"\nDespite legal finger-wagging, many of Banksy's works have been preserved and are considered priceless works of art. \n\n\nImage: Flickr, carnagenyc\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHave something to add to this story? Share it in the comments."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2014/05/30/art-vandalism-tipping-point/>