THE culprits behind a spate of graffiti at Tirrannaville could be forced to foot the multi-thousand dollar damage repair bill.
Road signs, fences, advertising boards, a bus shelter, parts of the exterior of Tirranna Public School and a vehicle at Wakefield Park were smothered in graffiti around Australia Day.
Police have since arrested the men allegedly responsible for the damage. The two men, aged 19 and 22, from Hamlyn Terrace were arrested on Friday afternoon.
The 19-year-old has been charged with two counts of malicious damage and was bailed by police to appear at Goulburn Local Court on February 22.
He is accused of spraying paint on the bus shelter and a property’s boundary fence. The other man has not yet been charged but was arrested for outstanding warrants and refused bail.
Police expect to lay charges in regard to the damage this week. Owner of Pelican Sheep Station, Phil Sykes, brought the damage to police attention on January 27.
His Braidwood Road property was among the hardest hit.
Two advertising boards for Pelican - a 970 hectare sheep, cattle and crop farm, that includes budget accommodation - were lathered in spray-paint, as were a nearby bus shelter, road signs and fences.
The accused were paying guests of Pelican and were employed with contractors undertaking demolition work at Goulburn Base Hospital.
Tirranna Public School, 500 metres north of Pelican, was also targeted. A number of signs were tagged in a manner consistent with graffiti found in the Tuggerah Lakes area, near Hamlyn Terrace, police said. Teachers and an office administrator of the one-class school noticed the damage on January 27- their first official workday of 2012. Mr Sykes said the incident caused angst among the locality’s tightly knit community.
“The main thing is we want the place to look neat and tidy. There’s nothing worse than coming in and seeing graffiti around. It’s a bad look,” he said.
Not only is the graffiti unsightly, it's expensive to remove. Roads and Maritime Services is responsible for scrubbing clean the bus shelter and road signs, Mr Sykes the damage at Pelican, and the Department of Education and Training the mess at Tirranna Public School.
However, none may have to cover the expenses - estimated by Mr Sykes at approximately $15,000. Pending court appearances, the money could come from the perpetrators’ pockets.
“If we have to re-do the signs, you’re talking big dollars,” Mr Sykes said. “Just to fix that fence up, it’s going to be about $2500-$3000. I reckon there could easily be $15,000 to 20,000 (worth of damage).
“The signs are all going to have to be replaced now, because once you wipe the graffiti off, they’ll then only last a short time before they have to be replaced. It’s a fair cost.”
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