A cafe in Edinburgh where Jk Rowling often ventured to write the beginnings of Harry Potter has been graffitied so often that staff have stopped trying to paint over it, and instead settled to embrace their status as a popular tourist spot for die-hard fans who insist on marking their journey in toilet cubicles.

JK RowlingHarry Potter fans graffiti the bathrooms of Rowling's favourite cafe

Graffiti; the highly illegal act of etching messages or images on property that one has no authority to scribble on. Also Harry Potter fans' favourite way of dedicating their love for JK Rowling at significant sites. Take the Elephant House cafe in George IV Bridge, Edinburgh for example. Staff at said coffee house have finally given up the gruelling fight of removing graffiti from the bathrooms, most of which are dedicatory odes to the popular book franchise.

'We used to paint them at the end of every Fringe festival, but I don't think we've painted them for three years', manager Roxy Hessami told the Edinburgh Evening News. 'After it was painted once, a note about who was in Dumbledore's Army had three tallies next to it, by the end of the day it was at 83.'

Such graffiti includes declarations of love towards particular characters or Rowling herself, doodles of dragons and other related imagery, and inspirational quotes taken directly from the books. It's better than the sort of sordid messages you'd normally see in the cubicles of your local nightclub at least, 'Tick here if I can Slytherin to your bed' notwithstanding.

In fact, the scribbling isn't limited to within the lavatory stalls. As space has depleted over time, fans have taking to writing all over sinks, trash cans, dryers, and even mirrors and windows. 

'We try to get rid of it from the mirrors. We've had toilet seats broken because people have been trying to write things on the ceiling', Hessami added. 'There's no point spending like £5,000 to have them ruined again.' With this new admission of defeat, the manager has confessed that people regularly complain about the graffiti but there's little they can do to stop the pen frenzy.

More: JK Rowling graffities hotel room

It doesn't help that Rowling recently admitted to indulging in a spot of illicit doodling herself, leaving her stamp on a bust in the hotel room where she completed 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'. 'Finished Hallows 9 yrs ago today. Celebrated by graffiti-ing a bust in my hotel room. Never do this. It's wrong', she Tweeted with a picture of the scribble which read 'JK Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in this room (652) on 11th January 2007'.

Needless to say, fans haven't listened.