Niamh Sutton

Police were called at about 8 pm when neighbours alerted principal Katie Lovel after hearing a group of people on school grounds.

“When I got here, the devastation was just beyond belief... that anyone could inflict such damage. The extent of the damage was absolutely gut wrenching and devastating,” she said.

Ms Lovel said the damage to school property was confronting.

“They got into the chook-yard, took them out and terrorised them, they put a rock through an external door, they threw eggs against glass doors, they got into the toilets and pulled out all of the sanitary items, there’s graffiti on tanks with disgusting comments, all the taps were left running, they have smashed most of our pipes to the tank that comes from the mains water,” she said.

Almost all of their down pipes were smashed, some at ground level.

“They go under asphalt and concrete, that’s all going to have to be ripped up to be replaced,” Ms Lovel said.

She said the students and staff were deeply impacted by the damage.

“For our kids (yesterday) morning, there is a sense of bewilderment and anger that someone would go around and do that to their learning environ-ment,” Ms Lovel said.

“I knew that the impact it would have on students would be heartbreaking and far reaching.”

The destruction is expected to heavily impact the school financially.

“The financial impact on the school is going to be massive,” she said.

With numerous members of the community already assisting the school, Ms Lovel wants to get the facilities repaired as soon as they can.

“We have our 150th celebration in two weeks time, we certainly want our school repaired ready for that. We will get it back as best we can, as quickly as we can,” she said.

But Ms Lovel also said it’s heartening to see community value still well instilled in those offering to help repair the damage.

“Community is one of our school values, something like this highlights how fabulous school communities are, and it is such a valuable thing to have, to look after your community resources,” she said.

“We have a very tight-knit community, and I know the students and their families have great pride in our school, and the school is a source of pride for our town.”

Police were also notified on Saturday about vandalism that occurred at Bristol Hill Tower.

Daryl Maffescioni has overseen the tower’s restoration and said the repeated vandalism is astonishing.

“I’m very bloody annoyed about it, they have made a hell of a mess there,” he said.

Large stones have been thrown off the tower, chipping the entrance’s edges.

The tower’s gate was also broken and thrown off the top.

“You may have noticed as you approach the tower, that’s all been damaged, they chucked the gate over and it landed down below,” he said.

Almost a square metre of wire has been cut off the viewing platform and the cages around the lights have been damaged.

“They have ripped all of that. It’s bloody dangerous, I was that wild about it,” he said.

The damage will be assessed by the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action to determine how the tower will be repaired.

Maryborough Police confirmed they are investigating the damage that occurred at Dunolly Primary School and Bristol Hill and are following up on suspects.

They said the two incidents are not related.