Valentine Phantom

The Valentine Phantom, often referred to as the Valentine Bandit in media reports, refers to an individual or group who each Valentine's Day secretly decorate the downtown area of a city in the United States with a series of red hearts printed on sheets of letter-sized paper.

The reports began in Portland, Maine in 1985, and the perpetrators remain unknown. Speculation about the individual or group which decorates before dawn each February 14 is popular in conversation, and local media, and over the past ten years has emerged as an example of vernacular culture.

The earliest known occurrence of this phenomenon was 1976 in Portland, Maine. Every year since, red hearts have appeared throughout the city on Valentine's Day morning.

Beginning in the early 2000s, red hearts drawn on white sheets of paper have been attached to the doors of businesses along the Pearl Street business district in Boulder, Colorado each Valentine's Day, according to reports in the Daily Camera newspaper. In Boulder, the mysterious Valentine's messenger has been dubbed the "kissing bandit." In 2002, the city of Montpelier, Vermont became a part of the yearly tradition, with the added twist of each heart including a poem signed "The Valentine Phantom".

On Valentine's Day 2010, pink hearts appeared up and down St. Johnsbury, Vermont's Railroad & Main Street, even finding their way to the local police and fire department buildings.

On Valentine's Day 2012, this phenomenon spread to Bangor, Maine when Bangorians woke up to a flurry of red and white hearts throughout downtown Bangor and the tradition continues into 2013 with the addition of cute messages and candy.

Montpelier's incarnation of the phenomenon began in 2002 near the corner of Main Street and State Street. The windows of shops were covered in 8.5" x 11" color copies of red hearts. They appeared before dawn, and for the most part were welcome and not seen as a nuisance. In subsequent years the center remained the intersection of Main and State streets, but grew outward to include Langdon Street, Elm Street, and lower State Street near the State House and the Pavilion. This raised speculation that the Valentine Phantom might be a team.

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Wikipedia