Police consulted

Maypole thieves took a risky step too far

The maypole thieves went one step too far in Hartkirchen and almost got a visit from the police.

(Bild: Mario Londer)

Customs regulate when and how the maypole may be stolen. In Hartkirchen, however, the thieves took a legally risky step too far and the police have already been contacted. However, the justice system is now being left out of the equation because the thieves showed remorse during the night.

"Under no circumstances will the police be involved, maypole theft is a custom and is subject to the respective rules of custom. However, if there is violence or considerable damage to property, the police should be called, because then it is no longer a custom" - this is stated in the maypole theft rules of the Upper Austrian rural youth association. In Hartkirchen, the music association has already contacted the police because thieves from a neighboring community had gone too far.

Locks picked
"They had taken the lying trunk, which was lying in a fenced-in company area," said the representatives Bernhard Aichinger and Michael Loimayr. The locks that secured the chained, undecorated trunk were also picked. The officials had advised people to try to find the perpetrators themselves - otherwise they would have been charged with damage to property and trespassing and would have had to go to court.

Rules are different

When and how exactly a maypole may be stolen is regulated slightly differently in each town. There is a maypole map from Landjugend OÖ on the Internet, where every club can enter its rules. What is fixed everywhere is that the tree may only be stolen without damage and on certain days around May 1st and at the end of the month. The reward is usually a snack.

Tree was not triggered
"After an online posting, the thieves apparently 'ran out of rice' and got in touch," says Michael Loimayr, Vice Chairman, who then spent half the night organizing the return. "We didn't release the tree, the damage was replaced and the thieves have been invited to the district music festival in a month's time - we'll work something out for them," say the musician bosses, who are happy that the maypole raising in Hartkirchen on April 30 will go ahead as planned - without the police. Until then, the tree will remain well hidden.