Taggers have recently targeted Masterton’s YMCA building on Queen St – at a hefty cost to Masterton Trust Lands Trust [MTLT], which owns the building.
MTLT general manager Andrew Croskery said tagging tends to move around the town, but YMCA has been a recent hotspot.
“Each tagging incident costs $900 to repair; a wall or significant area is ruined,” Croskery said.
“We employ professional painters, multiple coats are required, and matching the building’s colour can sometimes be difficult.”
Croskery said the Trust is proud of its investment in Masterton, with the many murals on Trust-owned buildings evidence of that.
“It’s disappointing that someone finds pleasure in defacing community-owned property, or any property
for that matter,” he said.
“This impacts what we can deliver to the people of Masterton.”
Croskery said MTLT is looking for a solution to the tagging so the organisation can get back to managing commercial property for community good.
MTLT is a community-owned property trust established in 1871 that owns commercial property in Masterton; its total assets are valued at over $100 million.
Income from property rentals is returned to the local community through grants for educational, cultural, and community activities.
Police are investigating this incident and looking for nearby CCTV footage.
The latest incident resulted in the YMCA being defaced with tags saying “$”, “REPULSIVE”, “AINT THAT THE TRUTH”, “SMOKA”, “SIN”, and others the Times-Age could not decipher.
If you recognise any of the tags or have any related information, email [email protected] or file a police report on 105.police.govt.nz.
Police should have a file on tagers by there tag markings. This has been going on for years around the country. Some people think 🤔 it’s art, if it’s put on dedicated walls otherwise it is vandalism.