A 24-year-old man accused of slashing a CPP sign with a large knife in Battambang province was charged on Friday with intentionally defacing another person’s property, Battambang provincial court spokesman Teang Sombo said.
Phat Sopheap was detained at the provincial prison while authorities further investigate the Wednesday evening incident in Kamrieng district, Ms. Sombo said Friday.
Mr. Sopheap apparently was drunk when he slashed the sign, according to Nget Vanna, chief of the district’s serious crime bureau. He told police that he cut the sign following a quarrel with his girlfriend, said Aun Fai, chief of the bureau.
The alleged slashing occurred in an area where there has been a spate of attacks on ruling party signs over the past few months. Nineteen party logo signs were damaged in the district’s Kamrieng commune in a single night in March, officials said.
The intentional damage charge carries a penalty of up to two years in prison and a fine of up to 4 million riel, of $250, except where the damage was minor.
