By BRIDGET COOK
A NARRE Warren man has started a crusade against graffiti vandals in his suburb and has urged the community to do the same.
David Levchenko has called on the Casey community to be vigilant when it comes to vandalism following a spike of graffiti attacks in the area.
Mr Levchenko said a significant graffiti attack along Kurrajong Road last week prompted him to call on the community to take action.
“I’ve lived in the area for the past four years but the graffiti has gotten worse in the past six months,” he said.
“There’s a lot of graffiti appearing each week, but there was a big attack last night (Wednesday last week).
“From one end of the road to the other, every street sign, lamp post, sign post and even some people’s fences have been tagged.
“It really doesn’t look good and something needs to be done to put a stop to it.”
Mr Levchenko said he wanted residents to keep an eye out for suspicious behaviour and call the police if they suspected vandalism was occurring.
He also urged people to alert the City of Casey as soon as they see graffiti to ensure it’s cleaned up quickly.
“I want to alert the community to this behaviour so they can be aware about it,” he said.
Endeavour Hills police are also seeking information about a large vandalism attack in Doveton last week.
Overnight on 16 and 17 September, vandals damaged and sprayed graffiti in Pittostrum Grove, Betula Street, Chestnut Road, Power Road and Ash Street in Doveton.
Police said eight to 10 men of African appearance were seen damaging fences and spray painting vehicles in the area.
City of Casey acting manager community safety Richard Maugueret said the council was co-ordinating the removal of graffiti at Kurrajong Road.
In 2012/13, the budgeted cost of graffiti to the city was $418,000 including removal, education, administration and enforcement.
In that time, 22,794 square metres of graffiti was removed and 1188 calls were made to the Graffiti Hotline.
Mr Maugueret said the council had a policy of zero tolerance on graffiti vandalism and held regular forums to help combat the problem and was committed to ensuring graffiti offenders were prosecuted.
Residents can report graffiti to Casey’s Graffiti Hotline on 1800 VANDAL (1800 826 325).
If anyone has information about the vandalism in Narre Warren and Doveton they should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
