Outrage after dumped car covered in racist graffiti left abandoned in Yellingbo for almost one month
A dumped car covered in racist slogans and swastikas has been left by the side of a road in the outer eastern suburb of Yellingbo for almost a month due to bureaucratic back-and-forth. WARNING: Offensive material.
Outer East
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An abandoned car, covered in hate speech and racist symbols, has sat abandoned at the side of a road for a month, despite it being reported to authorities.
A passer-by noticed the beaten up, broken down old Ford sedan dumped on Beenak Rd in Yellingbo just after Christmas, with misspelt hate speech and rude symbols spray painted across it shell.
Mr Davies, who did not want to give his first name, said the “racist billboard” already had police tape around it when he first spotted it sitting among pristine bushland on December 27.
But a week later he found the car had not been removed and alerted Yarra Ranges Council.
“It’s a bad look,” he said.
“The person who wrote it won’t be winning any school spelling bees, but you know the intent.”
Mr Davies said he followed up with the council a week later but was told its investigator deemed the car was Parks Victoria responsibility and wasn’t in his “jurisdiction”.
“They’ve paid someone to go out there, just to say it’s not their jurisdiction,” Mr Davies said.
“It would have taken more time to palm it off, that to call a tow truck.”
He said a recent story about the Beulah residents flying a Nazi flag had made national headlines, but this car had just been ignored.
“You have a Ku Klux Klan banner (the car) and they won’t get rid of it,” Mr Davies said.
“I’m outraged someone is getting around with that mindset and driving around in it (the car).”
“If this was parked in the main street of Melbourne, or Flinders St it would have been removed immediately.”
Warburton police Leading Senior Constable Tony Pagels said the car was unregistered and had not been reported stolen.
Sen-Constable Pagels said police had informed the council, who usually dealt with abandoned unregistered vehicles.
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Parks Victoria, in its response to the Leader, said the organisation had been focused on supporting firefighting efforts around the state and shifted its business priorities accordingly.
A large number of employees were deployed to the fires, which meant fewer rangers in open parks and some rescheduling of programs and visitor services, the response said.
Parks Victoria Dandenong and Yarra Ranges district manager Victoria Purdue said the vehicle had recently been inspected and would be removed as soon as possible.
The council has been asked to comment.