Source: Radio New Zealand
Christchurch’s Papanui Preschool and Nursey has been targeted several times over the past few weeks. Supplied / Papanui Preschool and Nursery
A Christchurch pre-school has been trashed with a fire extinguisher sprayed around its nursery, manager Kristal Heath says.
Staff at Papanui Preschool and Nursery felt powerless after the centre was broken into again on Wednesday and Tuesday night, she said.
Those burglaries were the third and fourth time the school had been targeted in the past month.
“There’s very little that we can do, and we don’t know why,” Heath said.
“I don’t know if it’s just we’re like an easy target.”
A fire extinguisher was sprayed around the nursery. Supplied / Papanui Preschool and Nursery
The pre-school was vandalised and its nursery coated in powder from the fire extinguisher on Wednesday evening, she said.
Toys, mats and other contents were wrecked and would need to be replaced.
Police said three young people were found nearby a short time later and taken home.
Heath said she believed the same group was responsible for Tuesday’s break-in, during which security cameras were destroyed and keys and other items were stolen from the office, as well as two earlier raids on the centre.
“The first time they attempted to break into the office and were unsuccessful, but they kind of damaged the door frame,” Heath said.
The centre’s modem and landline phone was stolen during the second break-in.
Police who have responded to the break-ins are frustrated by the ages of the alleged vandals. Supplied / Papanui Preschool and Nursery
Camera footage showed it was the same group of Breens Intermediate students targeting the centre, Heath said.
“Third time they broke in they were wearing school uniforms so it was pretty easy to track them down,” she said.
Heath feared they would be targeted again.
The nursery remained closed on Thursday so it could be cleaned while the pre-school, in a separate building, was able to remain open.
Police officers that responded to the break-ins were frustrated by the age of the children, Heath said.
“There’s not much they can actually do and they said the parents aren’t liable for damages or anything,” she said.
“It feels like we don’t have anything we can do to stop it even though we’ve got footage of them committing many crimes.”
Every item in the nursery has to be cleaned after a fire extinguisher was used. Supplied / Papanui Preschool and Nursery
Breens Intermediate principal Nikki Clarke said she was alerted to the string of break-ins on Wednesday.
“I have been at the pre-school offering support and we have been working with the police and families involved,” Clarke said.
“The school community is extremely disappointed. We understand that this community pre-school is very important to the local community and the impact of this is distressing. Our thoughts are with them and their families at present and we will do whatever we can to support them.”
Police rangatahi prevention manager Inspector Kirsten Evans said there were extra protections for children and young people in law.
“Police work to hold offenders to account while operating within the bounds of the law,” she said.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
