Eastern suburbs police investigate vandalism of Rose Bay pre-poll booth

Police are investigating a destructive rampage in which 30 posters were torn down, slashed, stabbed and tagged with “MAGA” at an eastern suburbs polling booth.

Police are looking into a destructive attack on a polling booth in Sydney’s east where more than 30 posters were slashed with knives and tagged with “MAGA”.

Around 30 and 40 posters of Liberal candidate Ro Knox were torn from a Rose Bay polling booth on Vickery Ave in the early hours of Sunday morning, before being slashed in half and repeatedly stabbed.

Many of the posters were spray painted with the acronym MAGA, standing for “Make America Great Again”, a slogan which has become a symbol of right-wing populism.

The carnage was discovered on Sunday afternoon by Woollahra councillor Hugh Woodgate, who had been helping out with pre-poll at the same location on Saturday.

Cr Woodgate said after packing down the booth the evening before, he returned to find “everything trashed”, with posters “cut in half and slashed”, while some “appeared to have been stabbed very aggressively”.

The slashed posters at Rose Bay, behind the pre poll station.

“It was a significant number of them, every single Liberal corflute. It was a very targeted attack and no other candidate was touched,” he said.

Cr Woodgate said the level of hatefulness displayed prompted him to notify police.

The Liberal corflutes appeared to be the only ones targeted.

“There was such aggression in the way the corflutes were stabbed directly into the candidate’s face, it was quite hateful. The general community were quite disgusted by it all an it just not acceptable,” he said.

According to Cr Woodgate, wrecked corflutes were also found on nearby New South Head and O’Sullivan roads.

A spokeswoman for NSW Police confirmed investigations were underway, with the public urged to come forward if they have information.

“Officers attached to Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command are investigating following reports of multiple political signs vandalised in Rose Bay on Sunday April 28,” the statement said.

Liberal candidate Ro Knox said the act was “ugly, dangerous, disrespectful”.

“As inquiries are ongoing, anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.”

It is understood as part of inquiries, police will talk to AEC staffers of the polling station and review security tape from surrounding business.

Liberal candidate Ro Knox described the latest incident as “ugly, dangerous and deeply disrespectful to voters in Wentworth”.

“More than 600 of our posters have been destroyed, many violently vandalised, stabbed through the face, ripped down and set alight,” she said

“This isn’t protest, it’s destruction.”

It comes as earlier this week, Woollahra Council passed a motion aimed at cracking down on political advertising.

The motion suggests a policy to “allow posters to go up no earlier than 14 days” before pre-poll, and require their removal within a week of polling day.