Sebastopol Vikings the target as graffiti problem flares up again

By Jordan Oliver
Updated November 2 2012 - 6:05pm, first published November 18 2011 - 2:10pm
Tagged: Ballarat City councillor and Leading Senior Constable Des Hudson stands next to a graffiti-smeared sign at the Vikings Soccer Club. Picture: Kate Healy
Tagged: Ballarat City councillor and Leading Senior Constable Des Hudson stands next to a graffiti-smeared sign at the Vikings Soccer Club. Picture: Kate Healy

Ballarat continues to have a graffiti problem, with fresh tags appearing at several locations around the city in recent weeks.The Sebastopol Vikings Soccer Club rooms were targeted on Thursday night, along with recent taggings at Officeworks in Creswick Road and the old Bunnings building in Gillies Street.Sergeant Peter Carey said police would not give up the fight against tagging and graffiti in Ballarat.“We’re still going, we will keep going until we get on top of it,” he said.“There’s some major stuff that’s occurred over the last few weeks and we’ve got an investigative team allocated to that.”Ballarat Police launched Operation Centaur in January to fight the city’s growing graffiti scourge and have already made a number of arrests.Sergeant Carey said investigations into recent graffiti were ongoing and charges were expected to be laid.“We’re pretty confident we’ll make some arrests soon in relation (to the recent graffiti),” he said.At Sebastopol yesterday, police scoured the clubrooms of the Vikings Soccer Club on Vickers street for clues after they were covered in graffiti on Thursday night.Sergeant Carey said police would now work to process evidence collected from the scene and would go through “the usual channels” to continue the investigation.“If anyone has any knowledge on graffiti, or even on the type of tags used by certain people, that information can go a long way,” he said.Police Youth Resources Officer and city councillor Des Hudson said graffiti cost the council more than $250,000 each year.“That money could be going towards new projects but it’s being wasted cleaning graffiti,” he said.Anyone with information of graffiti can call Crime Stoppers, anonymously, on 1800 333 000.

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