Graffiti menace returns

By Russell Bennett
THE graffiti monster has once again reared its ugly head in Mount Evelyn.
Concerned residents have spotted the eyesore along both Buckingham and Hereford roads – two of the main entry points to the town.
But Mount Evelyn police Sergeant Craig Keithley said graffiti attacks are all too often unreported.
“A number of them aren’t [reported] because property owners clean them up,” he said. According to Sgt Keithley, no graffiti attacks have been reported in Mount Evelyn over the past two months.
Often, cleaning the graffiti off and removing the eyesore takes precedence over reporting the act to the police.
Sgt Keithley said, however, that if perpetrators are caught, they’ll be dealt with severely.
“If we catch them, we take them around and say ‘You show us which graffiti is yours’,” he said.
“It often leads to the identification of other tags as well and we can quickly lay a number of charges.”
Sgt Keithley said a recent spate of graffiti attacks in the Wandin North area may have led to the increase of visible ‘tags’ in Mount Evelyn.
Jim Humphrey from the Mount Evelyn Neighbourhood Watch said graffiti attacks on someone’s private property could cause them significant mental distress.
“It is hideous and in some cases soul-destroying for someone who has just installed a new fence, or painted a new wall or gate to have it ‘tagged’ with some meaningless hieroglyphic, which means nothing except to the perpetrator.”
Billanook Ward councillor Tim Heenan said Yarra Ranges Council offers graffiti removal kits capable of cleaning brick, timber, and Colorbond surfaces.
But, he urged residents to be pro-active in stamping out the vandalism.
“Take a photo of it first if you’re able to and pass it on to the police,” he said.
“Don’t get complacent.”
Cr Heenan said removing the graffiti was vitally important, but so was reporting it to the authorities.
“We do the best we can as a council and have three or four strategies in place (to deal with the attacks), but this is a shire of 2500 square kilometres and 55 townships.
“We don’t have the resources.”
Belgrave Senior Constable Linda Hancock is keeping a database of graffiti tags. Graffiti can be reported by calling 9754 6677.