Victorian town rocked by graffiti attack by covidiot vandals who defaced Black Saturday memorial

Vile graffiti vandals who defaced shopfronts and a memorial dedicated to bushfire victims with coronavirus conspiracy theories are still on the run.

Residents in the Victorian suburb of Yarra Glen are furious about the widespread vandalism they woke up to on Sunday morning as the state struggles to control a second wave of the virus.

Multiple locations were targeted in the vandalism attack north-east of Melbourne, including a coloured glass mural in memory of the 173 lives killed in the Black Saturday bushfires that devastated the region in 2009.

‘F*** Cops. They do as told not what’s right,’ vandals sprayed on the mural.

Unveiled in 2014, the memorial was designed and built by well-known artist Ernst Fries, who died earlier this year.

A mural designed in memory of Black Saturday bushfire victims in Yarra Glen was defaced with disgusting graffiti

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His daughter Reggie Clarke found about the vandalism while listening the radio and  rushed down to inspect the damage, which has since been removed.  

‘It was disgusting and not a good way to treat a memorial,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.

‘The locals know all about it and treat it with respect.’ 

She added the memorial meant a lot to her father, who was commissioned by the local council to design one.

‘He thought long and hard about how to best represent that horrible day,’ Ms Clarke said.

She told Nine News: ‘Dad died in March so I’m pleased he hasn’t seen this. He (would have) been really upset about it.’

Ms Clarke had this plea for those responsible.

‘Haven’t you got anything better to do. It’s not just a piece of art,’ he said.

The defaced memorial was designed by Reggie Clark’s (left) late father Ernst Fries. She’s glad he’s not around to see the damage to the memorial, which meant a lot to him

The local bakery in Yarra Glen was among the multiple locations vandalised on the weekend

The local IGA supermarket was also defaced with the tag ‘Covid is a lie.’

‘Honestly this just made me nothing but disappointed and incredibly sad. Also just proves how ignorant these people truly are and just how low their morals are,’ a resident captioned the photo. 

Other local shops, a car park and a popular park were also vandalised.

Furious locals have expressed their anger on a community Facebook page, where one described the damage as ‘disgusting, disrespectful and so disappointing’.

Graffiti vandals defaced multiple locations with coronavirus conspiracy theories and anti-police slogans. Pictured is the damage at the local park

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‘What the actual F is wrong with people? As a healthcare worker I can assure you it is NOT a lie and in fact very real. I would say I’d hope these morons catch covid so they could see just how real it is! but then again they would be the idiots to spread it,’ one woman wrote.

‘The person that did that needs to be exposed to the emergency department to witness how bad it really is. Shame on you whoever you are!’

Police are reviewing CCTV as part of the ongoing investigation.

‘It’s just disappointing that someone would resort to graffiti to get their message across in this scenario,’ Yarra Glen Police Sargeant Richard Coulson told the Mountains Views.

‘It’s rare to see in this town, so we’d like to get to the bottom of it.’

Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Angry locals the vandals were captured on CCTV. Pictured is the vandalism at the local IGA