CAUGHT: Maryborough police apprehend memorial vandals

“The police in Maryborough will not tolerate this behaviour in our streets,” says police inspector.

(L) Mayor George Seymour and Detective Inspector Gary Pettiford at the Duncan Chapman Memorial in Maryborough. Photo: Stuart Fast

The young offenders who allegedly vandalised the Duncan Chapman Memorial in Maryborough have been caught.

Detective Inspector Gary Pettiford said police had spent "hours and hours," trawling through CCTV footage provided by Fraser Coast Regional Council of the incident.

"As a result of that, Detective Senior Constable Simon Webb identified when the incident occurred and the images clearly showed four young people, juveniles being in the vicinity at the time."

"We put out an appeal to the public to see if they recognised those juveniles. On the weekend, we had a member of the public come forward indicating one of the children was her son."

"Further inquiries were made and we've identified the four juveniles … as a result of the investigation, two juveniles, one 16 year and one 14 year old male juveniles have been charged with one count of wilful damage and one count of public nuisance.

"Both of those juveniles have been dealt with already under the Youth Justices Act. I can say when interviewed, all children showed remorse for their actions.

Close up of the vandalism done to the Duncan Chapman statue. Photo: Contributed/ Paul Truscott

 

Inspector Pettiford said the most worrying thing about the incident was that four children were roaming the streets of Maryborough at night.

"I'd like to say to the public, it's your responsibility to look after your children. They should not be out roaming the streets without any supervision in the middle of night."

"This case has been solved by one parent taking responsibility … I thank her and everyone in the community for their assistance."

He noted the community had been disgusted with the actions of the offenders, with members of the public taking to social media to vent their frustration.

Inspector Pettiford advised about the offences, "it wasn't an anti-Anzac thing or anything like that, it was four kids being stupid, being irresponsible."

"I'm in the process of arranging a meeting with these juveniles and their parents and a local, retired army captain who was involved in this trail, Captain Jason Scanes. He'll be talking to them about the significance of this memorial statue and about the men and women who died to make this the free country it is.

"The police in Maryborough will not tolerate this behaviour in our streets."

Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour welcomed the news, saying it was a good outcome for a bad situation.

"I'm very pleased to hear the offenders will be meeting with a veteran to hear about the significance of what they've done, this is not just a piece of public art, this is a sacred war memorial."

"We are speaking with a number of people about how the memorial can be repaired quickly.

"We know the people who did this are children, children need a second chance, this isn't their whole lives, this isn't them. As a caring, nurturing community we need to make sure when children go off the rails, when the do stupid things, we explain the significances to them and how that does not fit within our community and how they can come back within the community."

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