Mailbox vandals irk residents

Some Blenheim residents are on ‘mailbox watch’ after several were pushed over, damaged or beheaded in the last month.

The letterbox tampering, along Weld St and Alabama Rd, mostly happened at night when the culprits were harder to spot.

Recent victim Shirley Umbers posted on Neighbourly that her mailbox was damaged overnight outside her Weld St home.

‘‘My husband heard voices and then noises, but when [he] went out [he] saw no-one,’’ Umbers said. Two of her neighbours also had their mailboxes tampered with that night.

Alabama St resident Kane Calder said he was ‘‘pissed off’’ after he found his mailbox head had been pushed off.

‘‘It looked like someone had come up to it and pulled the head up off the post,’’ Calder said.

‘‘I think it’s something kids or drunks would do for fun in the neighbourhood.

Radim Sramek, from Weld St, said the head of his mailbox just ‘‘appeared one morning’’ on his driveway in late February.

‘‘We woke up to find it had been taken off its post and dumped on the drive,’’ Sramek said.

‘‘It didn’t cost anything to repair the mailbox. It was a little dented but my flatmate just picked it up at put it back on its post.

‘‘I have no idea who could be responsible. It just seems like such random acts.’’

Blenheim community constable Russ Smith urged people to immediately report theft or tampering of mailboxes to police.

‘‘It costs upwards of $100 to replace a mailbox, so it’s something that’s worth reporting to local police,’’ Smith said.

Anyone with any information can contact Blenheim police on (03) 578 5279.

PHOTO: CHLOE RANFORD/STUFF Radim Sramek’s mailbox was removed from its stump and dumped on the driveway.