KEY POINTS:
A group of grandfathers have rallied to guard their local church after taggers attacked the whole side of it.
Deacons from the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa in East Tamaki are now keeping a night vigil outside the facility in a bid to keep taggers away.
The men, some aged in their late 60s and who work during the day, are fed up with youths misbehaving in the area and are determined to catch the culprits, said the leader of the group.
He did not want to be named for fear of retribution.
"There was one night I found a boy climbing our fence. I went after him with my walking stick.
"He fell down the other side of the fence and ran off."
The elder says he is angry at the many kids who are left to roam the streets at night, with their parents nowhere to be seen.
"They walk around from midnight to the early hours of the morning, swearing, drinking and being loud.
"It's not just boys now, it's girls too. And some of them look like they're around 12 to 15 years old."
He said many parents had become too weak in teaching their children good values and giving them advice.
"They [kids] think it's just them in the world."
The guard team has already chased off a group of would-be taggers from the neighbouring Tupu-Dawson Youth Library.
The elder said there are a number of kids who congregate after midnight at the shopping centre, something he says is another reason for bad behaviour.
"There's a park nearby and they go and sleep there and don't come out until morning."
Following the Herald's story on the attack on the East Tamaki church last week, Programmed Maintenance Services, a property services organisation, offered to remove the graffiti for free. The company has since painted out the tags.
