By JESSE GRAHAM
A TECOMA trader has expressed dismay and disappointment after several main street shops were vandalised.
Melissa Hentschel from Reptarium said she saw large amounts of graffiti scratched into her shop’s windows when she arrived at work on Tuesday 8 July.
One of the tags scratched into the window read “MYSTIK”.
She said deep scratches to the windows caused significantly more damage than spray paint graffiti, and that the windows would likely have to be replaced.
Tecoma Traders Association recently celebrated having all of the town’s shops filled, but Ms Hentschel said the graffiti and damage was a bad welcome for new businesses.
“Tecoma traders are trying to get the town looking nice again,” she said.
“We finally got all of the shops full, and it just takes people like this to come along, and it costs us more money and makes it harder for us to keep the place nice.
“It’s very disappointing.”
The damage was reported to Belgrave police, and Ms Hentschel said she would look through the shop’s camera footage for any information to hand to police.
She said that shops in the area had been receiving regular graffiti and damage of a similar nature in the five years since she came to town.
Anyone with information on the damage can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
