Teens’ day-old murals ruined

THE paint was hardly dry on public artwork at Kingston when it was vandalised overnight.

A group of Kingborough Council’s Youth Services program participants had painted a Tas Water pump station at Kingston on Wednesday.

Yesterday, those who had volunteered their time to spruce up the pump station woke to find it sprayed with graffiti.

Kingborough Deputy Mayor Jo Westwood, who visited the young artists while they were painting the building, said the vandalism showed a complete lack of respect for the artists’ time and effort.

“The children took so much pride in the work they did and those who scribbled over the top of it should be ashamed of themselves,” Councillor Westwood said.

Mayor Dean Winter said the vandalism was extremely disappointing.

“The young people spent a full day of their holidays creating the artwork, and vandals have broken into the yard to deliberately deface it,” Councillor Winter said.

“We are sorry to all those who were involved in trying to make a difference, and we greatly appreciate your efforts.”

Cr Winter said the council had established a graffiti taskforce which had “done a brilliant job over the past six months”.

He said the council’s resources were minimal, which meant ratepayers would end up carrying the cost of the vandalism.

A Tas Water spokesman said the organisation was disappointed, especially for the young people who volunteered their time to decorate the pump station.

“We have worked closely with several councils and organisations around Hobart on this program, which has proven to be successful,” the spokesman said.

The matter has been reported to police.

Cr Winter urged anyone who might know something about the vandalism to contact Tasmania Police on 131 444 or to report anonymously to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.