Playground, barbecues and public toilets all hit

Since then he's been down there twice, cleaning up the same ugly tags each time.

The target of the attacks has been the public park adjacent to Reflections Holiday Park on Booner Street, where the playground, barbecues and toilets have all been defaced.

A female Tea Gardens' resident, who preferred to remain anonymous, first alerted Ted to the vandalism after discovering it the day before the school holidays started.

She was concerned the graffiti would reflect poorly on the popular tourist destination.

"We're in such a beautiful place and the first thing people see when they come here is the graffiti," she said.

"It's just disheartening."

Ted spent eight hours down there the following day cleaning the tags 'Frank', 'Chum' and 'Who' off the various surfaces that'd been defaced, only to receive a call the next week saying the tags were back.

This time he required nine hours and a helper to get the job done.

"They only did the men's toilets on the first lot," he said.

"On the second lot they did the men's and the women's."

With no graffiti appearing in the park since, Ted hoped the problem had been nipped in the bud.

"Because we've been able to clean it up so quickly and because we haven't given anyone any notoriety, I hope we've beaten it," he said.

He believed responding quickly was key to tackling recurrent graffiti problems, and stressed the importance of the public notifying him on 0408 440 309 as soon as they saw any vandalism.

A spokesperson from Port Stephens Hunter Police District also advised the public to report any graffiti or vandalism to the Police Assistance Line on 131 444, as the information would help police investigate the activity and lead to the increased likelihood of offenders being caught.

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