Bulli Surf Club victim of graffiti, malicious damage attack

Yellow and black graffiti tags have been plastered around the club's outside walls, including on laminated pictures they had on windows celebrating the club's volunteers and success at carnivals.

It's a "kick in the guts" for volunteers who spend many hours protecting the community, Bulli Surf Life Saving Club president Jamie Caldwell said.

"It's definitely disappointing, it's definitely very frustrating," he said.

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"We now think about the time and the effort and the dollars and cents that now need to be spent to restore the club back to its original look."

Volunteers believe the graffiti attack occurred last weekend, July 8 and 9.

There has been an increase in the number of malicious damage to property incidents in Wollongong and Shellharbour during the past 12 months, while cases in Kiama have dropped.

Data shows there were 1348 incidents in Wollongong during the 12 months March 2023, this is up 1.9 per cent on the 1323 cases reported to police the year before.

Incidents in Shellharbour spiked by 10 per cent, up from 415 to 457. While in Kiama the crime fell by 19 per cent, from 73 cases to 59.

"The Bulli community takes a lot of pride in that particular part of the world," Mr Caldwell said. "There's a lot of community members down there who do a lot to keep the area nice, from picking up rubbish to going the extra mile and keeping things clean."

While lifesavers, council lifeguards and other community groups use the premises, the surf club is owned by council.

The graffiti has been reported to council, but Mr Caldwell is unsure if council will foot the bill, or community or club members will volunteer to do the repairs.

"I reckon there's people out there that know who is actually doing this because it's popping up all around the place through the northern suburbs," he said.

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Mr Caldwell urged people to report malicious damage to help police allocate their resources across the Illawarra adequately.

Wollongong Police District Chief Inspector Steve Worthington urged people to report any similar incidents to the Police Assistance Line on 131 444, or triple-0 for life-threatening matters.

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