Four church windows were broken in the latest case of vandalism this week.
When Caversham Baptist Church pastor Murray Gordon walked into the premises on Thursday morning, he was sad to see further damage caused so close to Christmas.
"These are our ninth window broken this year."
In the past, the church windows tended to be broken on a Friday or Saturday night, leading to a weekend callout fee for the glazier to repair the damage.
The claims were also being paid by the church, with every window broken leading to an excess of about $100.
"A few times this year I’ve had the glazier in one day repairing the window, then had to call them in the next day to replace a second window — it’s rather disappointing."
Two of the most recent windows broken were likely to be significantly more costly to repair, as they were double-glazed.
The church had been spending the past few weeks putting together a Christmas food hamper for 50 children and their families from the neighbouring Carisbrook School to help those in the community who were in need during the holiday season.
Mr Gordon said it was hard to tell whether they were being targeted purposefully, but he said the rock attacks had only started in the past 12 months.
"We’ve been here for the past four and a-half years and have never had this problem until the past 12 months," he said.
Mr Gordon said he was glad the damage had been contained to only the church windows and nothing valuable inside had been damaged.
