VANDALS have trashed the Dubbo Victoria Park precinct causing $10,0000 damage only two weeks after the area was cleaned up.
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Obscenities and scribble covered the bowl at the Dubbo Skate Park, the Family Day Care Centre and a toilet block yesterday after an overnight attack.
Dubbo City Council called on the community to act as its eyes and ears in an effort to convict those responsible and stop repeats of the damage.
It faces a bill it estimates will come to $10,000 to clean the three components of the park, the natural centrepiece of the city.
The spree was the second time in two weeks the skate park was targeted, with last week’s damage totalling $3500.
As it began to make the facilities safe and remove obscene words and pictures from 7am yesterday, a frustrated Kathleen Oke said her disappointment would be shared by the community.
Skate park users generally appreciated the $400,000 facility, she said.
“They’ll be disappointed, yes, because I’m pretty well positive the kids who use this on a regular basis who... enjoy their time here would be disappointed when they see the grease, the paint, that these people have dumped around the place and made a mess,” she said.
“They will be really upset because they do look after it.”
Spray paint in three colours and black paint was used at the skate park and grease was dumped on jumps at the facility.
Ms Oke, the council’s community participation facilitator, said the bowl would require professional cleaning, which would cause some damage to its surface.
The day care centre had graffiti on the fence, the building, the shed, the windows and the trees and shrubs.
It had taken the whole day to clean it, Ms Oke said.
When asked if it was one of the worst attacks she had seen, Ms Oke said: “In quite some time it is, yes.”
“The fact that we have cleaned it and it’s not art . . . it’s just a waste of time and because it’s not very pleasant we have to get it cleaned up as soon as possible,” she said.
“This is not street art at all, it’s vandalism.”
The council has for some years offered a reward of $2500 for information leading to a conviction of anyone committing wilful damage to or theft of council property or equipment but no one has stepped forward.
Ms Oke highlighted the reward in an effort to bring about a breakthrough.
She also appealed to the community to call the council or police if they saw anything suspicious.
“Hopefully it will deter these people so we can be out there and be seen and eventually get somebody and prove that we will follow through with what we are doing,” she said.