LAWRENCE GULLERY
A group of children were handed an unwanted surprise when their favourite playground in Cornwall Park was covered in white-paint graffiti on Sunday.
Parents at the park weren't happy either when the white paint started to appear on their children's clothes.
The paint damage to the park was reported to the
Hastings District Council on Sunday morning and when council staff went to investigate they also found various water taps around the park had been turned on and left running over night.
To add to the council's woes, 15 trees in the greater Hastings suburban area had also been damaged by vandals on Saturday night.
One of the parents at the park on Sunday morning said he had noticed the paint on the play equipment but after "testing it" thought it would be okay for children to play on.
"But the sun must have softened the paint ... all of their clothes were ruined," he said.
The council's parks manager Derek Thompson said a professional graffiti removal team had been working at the park this morning.
Mr Thompson said the initial review of the damage on yesterday morning led the council staff to believe they could wait until today to remove the paint.
"It was tested and found to be dry so a call was made to leave it there and remove it today," he said.
Mr Thompson said he was sorry to hear clothes had been damaged and was calling one of the parents today to speak about the matter.
He said it was unclear how much it would cost the council to clean up the park until the graffiti team had started working on the paint.
"It depends if the paint is oil or water-based. We think it's water so it won't be that hard to remove," Mr Thompson said.
He said the council would report the incidents to the police.
