Owner quits home over vandalism

The offending graffiti

A Northland woman is selling her home after offensive graffiti was sprayed along her garden fence.

Last Friday night, graffiti had appeared on the wooden fence at the front of the property but it was the tagging that appeared on Sunday morning that caused her to be upset. It included the words "rape gang" which she found frightening as she lived alone at the house she had owned for nearly two years, her son said.

The Northern Advocate understands there has also been a sexual assault in the area recently, which has unsettled locals. This could not be confirmed at edition time.

Police confirmed there had been a spate of tagging over the weekend in an area of Ruakaka known as "the village". The woman's son, who did not want to be named for fear of retribution, said his 63-year-old mother was selling her home

"It was a bit more sinister than just tagging. She just feels unsafe after seeing that, it indicates a mentality problem and it's not just disruptive kids with a spray can," he said.

"Some might say (her moving out) is extreme but the fact is she lives alone, she has health issues and she couldn't fight anyone off. It's just not worth the risk and if something happened to her I just couldn't forgive myself."

While the fence had been tagged a couple of times previously, there had been no offensive or intimidating words. Police had been contacted about the tagging and confirmed there had been a problem with similar tags left around the area which had started appearing about a month ago in One Tree Pt.

The officer in charge of Bream Bay, Sergeant Simon Craig, said the offensive tagging was being painted out immediately by the Whangarei council D'Tag service.

He said police were taking the tagging seriously and were calling on the public to capture the offenders in the act by taking photos or video.

"This is causing people some angst and, if at all possible, we will prosecute the offenders," Mr Craig said.

Police had been successful recently in catching a teenager who was caught in the act tagging a Ruakaka property. A member of the public had used a camera with a long lens and the photos helped identify the culprit who was now being dealt with by the police Youth Aid section on a charge of wilful damage.

Ruakaka resident Phil Paikea, an ambassador for the It's not OK anti-violence campaign and former member of the Bream Bay Community Trust, said tagging had been an ongoing problem in the area over the years and, until the weekend's blitz, had remained relatively graffiti free.

"It's something that's sporadic. But it seems this latest round is a bit more challenging."