Rotorua specialist school left without answers after beloved trampoline slashed

Senior pupils Ezekial Bevan (left) and Lachlan Dawson with the damage. Photo / Supplied

Special needs students at Rotorua's Kea St specialist school have been left "confused and upset" after their beloved school trampoline was vandalised overnight.

Principal of the school Sherie Collins said staff and students came to school this morning to realise their custom-made trampoline had been slashed three times.

The slashes had left one large hole and two smaller holes, she said.

The people who did it would have had to climb the "six-foot tall fence" to access the custom-made trampoline that was built into the ground, she said.

The troubling part for Collins was that the people could have simply played on it and left, yet they had the urge to slash it up.

Students at Kea Street Specialist School were left "confused and upset" at play time when they weren't able to go on their trampoline. Photo / File

She said many students at the school were "non-verbal", and so trying to explain to them what had happened was tricky.

She said many were left "confused and upset" at play time when they weren't able to go on the trampoline.

It was especially popular at the school as since it was custom-made, the children in wheelchairs would often choose to go on it as they liked the "fun vibrations".

The replacement was going to cost the school a large amount of money, as they needed to get another custom-made trampoline top fitted.

She said the incident was "out of the blue" and the school had not had troublesome people hanging around or any graffiti for a long time.

Collins said she was working on reporting the incident to police.