Thieves and vandals caused hundreds of dollars of damage to schools across the north-west during the school holidays.
Detective Senior Sergeant Barry Jenkins said a number of schools in Melton and Hillside had been broken into by offenders who “just wanted to cause damage”.
Vandals broke into Staughton Secondary College, in Melton South, about 2.15am on Saturday, September 20.
Senior Sergeant Jenkins said a hammer found in one of the classrooms was probably used to break 26 windows across the school.
Nearby Melton Christian College was broken into some time between 7pm on September 19 and 7am on September 22, when offenders damaged the canteen and stole a fire extinguisher.
Vandals also entered an unlocked portable classroom at Sydenham- Hillside Primary School in Hillside and used a fire extinguisher to spray the room.
Senior Sergeant Jenkins said school burglaries happened every holiday.
“When the kids have a little bit more freedom we notice a bit of a rise in this sort of offending,” he said.
“We make the assumption it’s kids, possibly even bored kids, because of the type of damage and offending,” he said.
He asked the community to report suspicious behaviour around schools.
