Heartless vandals torch Nepean Special School play equipment
A SEARCH is underway to track down four young vandals who set fire to play equipment at a Seaford school for disabled kids, with police describing the act as “despicable”.
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A SEARCH is underway to track down four young vandals who set fire to play equipment at a Seaford school for disabled kids, with police describing the act as “despicable”.
Police this morning told the Leader they were confident it wouldn’t be long before they tracked down the perpetrators.
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News of the senseless destuction of the popular outdoor teepee has been met with public condemnation.
CCTV footage showed the vandals, caucasian males believed to be aged 16-20, setting fire to the teepee at about 10:20pm on September 2.
The incident has upset students at the school, which caters for 122 students with physical disabilities and complex health impairments.
Adding insult to injury, this is the second time the teepee has been targeted since 2015, when it was stolen and later anonymously handed into police.
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Senior Constable Alex Metaxas-Belt, of Frankston CIU, said the vandals had ignited hay bales within the teepee, lighting a slow-burning fire.
He said he was confident police would find the offending youths.
“We’ve got you on camera. It’s only a matter of time before people will come in and tell us who you are,” Senior Constable Metaxas-Belt told media this morning.
“It’s a pretty despicable act to take such an important space away from the children.”
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Senior Constable Metaxas-Belt said the offenders ranged in height from 170-182cm.
Nepean Special School assistant principal Claire Toohey said the destruction of the $12,000 teepee had been deeply distressing for students at the Seaford school.
It’s the second time the teepee has been targeted. Built in 2013, it was stolen in 2015 then anonymously handed in damaged at a country police station and returned to the school.
“The kids are absolutely devastated. They stood around the outside of what was the teepee saying ‘Why did they burn down our teepee?’ ” Ms Toohey said.
“One of the older boys said ‘Why do they do this to kids with disabilities’.”
The fire came only days after a front-page article in the Frankston Leader highlighted the human cost of vandalism.
Ms Toohey said ongoing petty vandalism and theft was upsetting for students, staff and parents.
“Some mornings you get to the school and think ‘What will they have done? What’s going to be damaged, broken or stolen?” Ms Toohey said.
A teacher, Cath Collinge, said the teepee had been a safe space for students.
“We have some challenging behaviours in the classroom, but out here it was a calm space for them,” she said.
“There was something about the energy of it. They worked so well together in there and worked as a team. It sparked their imagination.”
Nepean Special School caters for 122 students who have physical disabilities and complex health impairments.
Police are urging anyone who may be able to assist in the investigation to phone 1800 333 000.
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