{"id":38913,"date":"2013-07-15T20:38:34","date_gmt":"2013-07-15T10:38:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=38913"},"modified":"2021-02-04T12:40:03","modified_gmt":"2021-02-04T02:40:03","slug":"vandals-hurting-us-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2013\/07\/15\/vandals-hurting-us-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Vandals Hurting Us All"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A vandalised sign in Kingaroy earlier this year; more signs were knocked over in the same area recently\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 15, 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vandalism of street signs is still causing headaches for the South Burnett Regional Council, and costing ratepayers money.<\/p>\n

“We are sick and tired of replacing signs on our town’s streets that are damaged by vandals and have enlisted the help of the police to catch these people,\u201d Mayor Wayne Kratzmann said today.<\/p>\n

\u201cStreet signs are costly to replace as is the labour to have them reinstated in the ground.<\/p>\n

“Someone has to pay and unfortunately it is the Council which in effect is costing ratepayers\u2019 hard-earned money when these scarce dollars could be better spent elsewhere.”<\/p>\n

Mayor Kratzmann said if the vandals wanted to be “physical”, they could use their energy on the footy field or volunteering for the many charity organisations that could use their help.<\/p>\n

He said Council had asked the police to assist by patrolling the areas that appear to be targeted by vandals.<\/p>\n

Council is also asking that if anyone who knows who is responsible to phone CrimeStoppers on 1800-333-000. They can remain anonymous.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vandalism is usually caused late at night and on weekends which would suggest that party-goers are walking home when they get the urge to attack the street signs,” Mayor Kratzmann said.<\/p>\n

“If this is the case then I suppose the good news is that after a night out on the town they are choosing to walk home and for that the community can be thankful.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I had the chance to talk to these vandals, I\u2019d remind them that this is your community, so look after it!<\/p>\n

“This will ultimately cost them and their families money. They can reduce the unnecessary cost that is associated with such behavior, simply by making smarter decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n