The Keiraville Public School community is devastated that their newly painted school mural was vandalised on Halloween.
A white zig-zag line covers the entire mural and was reported to police on Wednesday, November 1.
The vandalism is believed to have occurred on the night of October 31 or the early hours of November 1.
Keiraville Public School students brainstormed what they would like included in the mural and gave their list to the artist. The mural features intricate art of an owl, a student reading, and local flora and fauna.
The school's P&C said in a statement that they are "devastated by the thoughtless damage done to our school's beautiful new mural" which was unveiled in September.
"The school sits right in the heart of our village, and the mural brought a lot of joy and colour to the whole community," secretary of the Keiraville Public School P&C, Lorren Godfrey said.
"[The] Keiraville children were part of the planning process for the artwork, and so felt a lot of pride in the final design.
"It's really disappointing to see it vandalised so quickly. We can't imagine how anyone could be so thoughtless."
The artist known as Nitsua was commissioned by the principal to create the mural at the front of the school.
"It's sad people feel the urge to vandalise, particularly on the front of a school, a place of learning - of all the places that someone would do this, is just disgraceful," Nitsua said.
"The mural was commissioned for the kids to brighten up the area, to create stoke and invite inspiration from within ones' creative realm."
Nitsua said the school is located on a busy road and "there appears to be some concerns with graffiti tagging in the community".
"This behaviour of tagging a school mural is unwanted and unwarranted."
A Department of Education spokesperson said Keiraville Public was extremely disappointed at the recent vandalism of the mural.
"The mural, only recently completed, has already brought much joy to the students, staff, and Keiraville community," a spokesperson for the Department of Education said.
"The mural was coated with a protective sealant, and work will begin immediately on removal of the graffiti."
The Keiraville Public School P&C stated they will support the school in attempting to restore the mural and raise funds towards this. Nitsua said they are also assiting with the removal process.
If you have any details about the vandalism, please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Reading this on mobile web? Download our news app. It's faster, easier to read and we'll send you alerts for breaking news as it happens. Download in the Apple Store or Google Play.
Marlene Even
Journalist at the Illawarra Mercury. Previously a radio and podcast host at 2SER Radio.
Journalist at the Illawarra Mercury. Previously a radio and podcast host at 2SER Radio.
