GOULBURN’S heritage has come under attack in the past few weeks, with vandals maliciously damaging some of the town’s most historically significant monuments and buildings, the Post Office being the latest.
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The damage came to the attention of staff on Friday morning when a series of spray paint tags were noticed on the south side of the clock tower.
There was also another fresh tag on north side of the façade. This is the second time the building has been attacked this year. Australia Post is currently seeking quotes to remove the graffiti, with a spokesperson saying it was likely to be a tough job, given the position of tags.
“We want to remove it as soon as possible,” the spokesperson said.
“We’re looking at renovating the Post Office in the future so it might be feasible to tie in the removal of the graffiti with the renovation.”
Australia Post also said it was disappointed by the attack, especially considering the significance of the building to local heritage.
In August, Goulburn’s famous Lady Belmore Tree was set upon by spray can vandals and last week a citizen noticed that the inscription on the Mayor Davies replica monument had been chiseled off. In the last three months, Council has spent more $18,000 cleaning up after vandals.
More than $6000 was spent on graffiti removal alone. Mayor Geoff Kettle is incensed by the recent spate of attacks, describing them as “despicable, mindless, childish vandalism”.
“What are their motives for this mindless vandalism and what do they have to gain from it, especially considering it will be ratepayers’ money that will be required to clean it up?” the mayor asked.
“If they have any sense of community spirit, community involvement or community pride they should identify themselves to the local police and take responsibility for their actions. How would they like it if it happened to their family home?”
When the Post contacted the Goulburn Heritage Group member David Penalver he said he didn’t believe it was a deliberate campaign by vandals against heritage, more just people disgruntled people trying to destroy public property.
“Whoever is doing it obviously has no sense of ownership. If you feel it is your property you want to keep it and you want to protect it,” Mr Penalver said.
“I don’t think it is against heritage it is just people who feel destructive.”
He said should be more respect for local heritage as well as both public and private property. The Police take malicious damage very seriously and have several mechanisms in place to combat it, including using intelligence to identify offenders and build collection plans, targeting certain areas at particular times.
However, acting crime manager Matt Woods said it was important for the community to remember that their statistics, and the action plans they can build with them, are only as good as the reports they receive. He encouraged people to report all crimes, especially malicious damage, no matter how insignificant they think it seems.
“It’s a crime against people’s property and it won’t be tolerated,” Det Sgt Woods said.
“When you attack things like the Lady Belmore Tree and heritage buildings and things it’s a crime against the community.”
Investigations are ongoing into the attack on the Lady Belmore Tree but no charges have been laid. Police are yet to receive any reports about the attack on the Mayor Davies monument.
Anybody with any information about malicious damage attacks are being encouraged to contact the Goulburn Police Station or phone the Police Assistance Line on 13 14 44.
