Senior Sergeant Nathan Davis of the Tararua Police was one of the many people disappointed by the graffiti and break-in at Dannevirke's Rugby Park on the eve of the Ross Shield rugby tournament. Mr Davis' hope at the time was that this mindless damage and theft was committed by someone from out of town and not a local from Dannevirke or the wider Tararua community.
Graffiti had been painted over buildings at Rugby Park and items stolen from Kim Spooner's coffee cart in what Mr Davis described at the time as "a disgraceful and thoughtless act".
"Here was a group of volunteers putting together the Ross Shield tournament trying to present our town in a positive light and all these offenders wanted to do was cause damage and resentment."
Investigations have now revealed three of the four culprits are from Dannevirke, with the fourth from out of town.
"It's so disappointing," Mr Davis said.