Mission desecrated by spray vandals

Mission desecrated by spray vandals

By Sunny Liu

It’s bad enough that someone would vandalise Docklands’ beloved Mission to Seafarers building with ugly graffiti.

But what is much worse is that the building’s delicate concrete render coating has absorbed the paint making it almost impossible to remove.

Vandals have graffitied top of the 99-year-old building’s dome and western walls.  Efforts to remove the tags have merely cleaned decades of grime but have done little to remove the paint.

The mission’s operations manager Craig Baru, who first saw the graffiti, was furious.

“They are not street artists. They are vandals,” he said.  “I was disgusted that someone would do it. I’m disappointed, living in a society where people think it’s OK to do this.”

CEO of the Mission, Andrea Fleming, said iconic buildings could be more attractive to vandals.

“They did it probably because the building is iconic and everyone would see it. Once one person tags it, it’s like a canvas,” she said.

“I think Melbourne’s heritage is important and if people don’t respect that, I feel sorry for them.”

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