Young children have repaid a Gisborne couple's kindness by trashing their home.
Ross and Robyne McKeague were well known in suburban Kaiti for allowing local children use their swimming pool under supervision after school.
The couple used to run a Child, Youth and Family home (CYF), and were also foster
parents.
"We love kids," Mr McKeague told the Gisborne Herald.
However when the McKeagues went away for a weekend this month, eight-, nine- and 12-year-olds took the opportunity to trash their home, the Gisborne Herald reported.
The children tagged the newly-painted house in bright orange, white and black.
They then broke in and used Mr McKeague's golf clubs to smash jars, bottles, terracotta pots and ornaments in a violent binge of destruction.
The broken remains were left lying at the bottom of the pool.
They even had time for a snack, with the remains of gherkins on crackers found half-eaten near the pool.
They then went next door to a community childcare centre and lit a fire which melted plastic playhouses and toys and threatened the building, prompting a call to the fire brigade.
One of the boys was burned on his arms and lost hair.
Mr McKeague said he was disappointed but not angry at the children.
"Kids are kids. People are not. You can't blame an eight-year-old. Where do they get that from?" he said.
Mr McKeague said the parents of the children needed to be more responsible.
Police caught three young children but they are too young to be criminally liable and CYF has been informed.
- NZPA
