Polish prosecutors are now investigating a "White Lives Matter" graffiti as a hate crime in the city of Rzeszów, with the suspects facing up to three years in prison if they are apprehended and convicted.
Painted on a wall in the Polish city of Rzeszów, the graffiti was reportedly created as a memorial to the murdered British youth Henry Nowak.
Polish police have reportedly secured surveillance footage and referred the case to Polish prosecutors.
However, Polish newspaper toRzeszow claims that cameras are not in the direct area where the wall was painted, making it difficult to identify the suspects.
Authorities also painted over the entire wall.
Major Polish news outlet wPolsce24 has reacted with outrage to the investigation: "The Rzeszów case is part of a broader trend of suppressing the voices of white people who dare to remind them that their lives also have value. When black people say "Black Lives Matter," it is a fight for equality. When white people say "White Lives Matter," it is immediately racist."
The news outlet further writes: "The slogan on the garages in Rzeszów was not an expression of hatred. There was a voice reminding us that white lives matters too. And as long as we treat some lives as 'more equal' than others, such slogans will appear on walls."
Meanwhile, authorities claim the graffiti is illegal under article 257 of the Polish penal code, which concerns the public insult of a group of people or an individual based on national, ethnic, or racial identity.
A group labeled "Narodowy Rzeszów" allegedly posted a video of themselves standing next to the graffiti holding a banner and flares and displaying the logo of the right-wing National-Radical Camp (ONR), however, it remains unclear if they sprayed the graffiti themselves.
Their post pointed to violence against Whites in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Social media platforms took the video down.