A sign welcoming refugees and asylum seekers to the Bega Valley Shire has needed to be replaced about eight months after it was installed due to damage by vandals.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Bega Valley was the first council in Australia to become a Rural Australians for Refugees-initiated Welcome Town.
To celebrate Refugee Week in June last year, Bega Valley Shire Council installed a refugee welcome sign outside Bega library.
This week a spokesperson for council confirmed the original sign was damaged by vandals, who had not been identified, and had been replaced by a new one.
“After damage caused by vandalism to the sign in December and January, a new sign has been erected at the corner of Gipps St and Zingel Place, Bega,” the spokesperson said.
“The post was re-set with concrete and a new sign attached.”
The spokesperson said the new sign was made by a local firm and the installation undertaken by local contractor, with the cost totalling $379.