Castlemaine community members are furious that a historic rail bridge metres from Castlemaine’s CBD has once again been targeted by a graffiti vandal.
The Express was contacted by an angry local resident on Friday after noting the Forest Street bridge had again been targeted sometime overnight Thursday or in the early hours of Friday morning.
A five-member cleaning team spent several days repainting the bridge and sandblasting the bricks just before Christmas to remove an extensive amount of graffiti that had been emblazoned across the bridge in a spate of attacks.
Community members were delighted to see the bridge restored to its former glory and remain that way for almost two months until Thursday night’s attack.
One community member, who did not wish to be named, branded the act “disgusting”.
“No doubt countless thousands of taxpayer dollars were used in the clean up and now it has to be done all over again!” she said.
In early January, Castlemaine Police established a team to investigate the recent number of graffiti incidents across Castlemaine.
Operation Exorcists aims to collate reported graffiti and tags and look to identify and charge those offenders.
Police are encouraging the community to assist their investigations by reporting any recent graffiti and providing any information to police that may identify any suspects.
Castlemaine senior sergeant Peter Carey said most graffiti and tags were an ugly blight within the community and often damaged public infrastructure and heritage buildings or structures. People wishing to report graffiti can contact the Police Assistance Line on 131 444 or report it via the online portal at www.police.vic.gov.au/palolr
People who wish to provide information about an offence can also do so anonymously by contacting Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
