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Swastikas and a racial epithet spray-painted on property in a Dunedin suburb at the weekend has left residents appalled, shocked and angry.
The racist graffiti was left on a large red rubbish skip and on the footpath in Minto St, Andersons Bay, and police are now treating it as a serious incident.
One resident, who declined to be named, said items from the skip were also thrown out across the pavement and neighbours helped to clean it up on Saturday morning.
“I thought, if nobody does anything about this, we’re just giving in to fascism and Nazism.
“I’m appalled by the person who thought that it was right to do it, in light of things like the Holocaust and the generations of people who have been persecuted.
“My God, if this can happen here in Dunedin in a very nice suburb, God knows what’s happening somewhere else.”
Another resident, who also declined to be named for fear of retribution, said he had been living in the street for 28 years and had never seen anything like it before.
A rubbish skip in Minto St, Andersons Bay, was covered in racist graffiti at the weekend. Photo / Peter McIntosh
The graffiti was not there when he went to bed on Friday night, and he was shocked when he saw it on Saturday morning, he said.
He had a message for the culprit(s).
“At our ages, we know what this stuff means, but maybe the person who did it, doesn’t.
“This really sucks. Don’t do this kind of stuff.”
The incident was similar to another spate of racist graffiti which happened in Christchurch earlier this month.
Families in the suburb of Rolleston were left angry and scared after waking to a racial attack, finding the n-word and Nazi symbols tagged on multiple properties using green spray paint.
Area commander Inspector Craig Brown said police received a report of a graffiti incident in Minto St and officers were now investigating.
“We understand the distress incidents like this can cause and we will do all we can to hold these people to account.
“Incidents of this nature are not common in Dunedin and are certainly not reflective of the overall community.
“We encourage anyone who sights criminal activity to report it to police.”
