Sign vandalism hits agent's pocket

Real estate agent Steve McGuire feels like he's under attack.

An agent with Rotorua's LJ Hooker, he's constantly having to pick up the broken pieces of "For Sale" signs erected on grass verges around the city.

The problem is widespread and at $65 a sign, it's starting to hurt where it hurts most - in his pocket.

"I've had wooden stakes broken and kids are kicking them in, throwing them away and walking over them. I'm sick and tired of the violence and the vandalism."

He blames school children and plans to visit local schools this term to tell them it's no laughing matter.

"I want to go their assemblies and I'm going to have my say. Kids need to hear they can't keep doing this."

He has noticed the problem got worse last week after school resumed for the year - and it's not confined to one area of town.

"This isn't a eastside or a westside thing. Outside a house on Utuhina Rd in Springfield last Sunday I've had to replace four signs after they were kickboxed and smashed to smithereens.

He also had to repair two signs after they had been up less than a week.

While he never saw the vandalism first hand, he was confident school kids were responsible.

"It mostly happens in the afternoon when there's more kids about walking home," he said. "They're doing it for the sheer hell of doing it. Their mates egg them on and they don't really care."

Kevin Shone, an agent with Property Partners, agrees the problem is widespread.

He has had to replace signs up to five times after people have either pulled the stakes out and discarded them or trashed them completely.

Mr Shone thought he'd beaten the vandals by driving his wooden stakes so firmly into the ground they couldn't be pulled out.

But vandals just came along and snapped the stakes off at ground level.

On one occasion, he noticed the letters and numbers on a sign had simply been cut out, leaving holes.

"When you add up the travelling time and time it takes to set them up, let alone the cost of materials each time, it starts to get expensive."

Trashed signs were never a "good look" for property owners wanting to sell their home. He encouraged vendors to always ring him when they noticed a sign had been tampered with.

"It's getting to the point where you nearly have to nail a sign to the house."

It's not the first time signs have been targeted by vandals in Rotorua. Last year Environment BOP Rotorua candidate Bill Cleghorn had one of eight campaign billboards defaced.

Erected near the Kahukura Rugby and Sports Club on Pukuatua St, it was tagged with spray paint. Other local body candidates had their campaign signs smashed and destroyed.