Ringmaster Adam St James said at least 40 signs, which have been posted in front yards of homes and businesses to advertise the school holiday production in recent weeks, had been defaced.

"We had our posters in the shops and our corflute signs on people's fences, and someone has been around and vandalised at least 40 of them with black paint," he said.

"Warrawong, Berkeley, Dapto - they've targeted quite a few places and it's cost us quite a lot of money."

It is unclear from the graffiti - which simply reads "No" - what the opposition relates to, however Mr St James said he believed it came from animal rights activists.

Stardust is one of the few circuses in Australia that still has wild animals such as lions and monkeys.

Last year, protesters from the vegan and animal rights group Anonymous for the Voiceless staged a protest outside Stardust's Kully Bay big top.

Read more: Caged lions at Warrawong circus become the focus of animal rights protests

"It's because we have exotic animals - we still have lions - and that's the issue they have," Mr St James said.

"But we're running a professional business, we have never had any convictions of animal cruelty and we're all above board.

"We've tried in the past to invite these groups in to see where the animals live but they're not interested.

"They think because the animals are in the circus straightaway it's animal cruelty.

"But our lions, for instance, are 19 generations born and bred here in Australia, they would never know the wild or any other life. They have always been in human care - and we have an A rating from the government for this care."

In recent years, Stardust has faced a number of animal rights protests as it travels around NSW and Victoria, however Mr St James said he had never experienced such widespread damage to his business's property.

"We've never had this type of damage to our property before and we've been coming for over 25 years," Mr St James.