_ct1880x930.jpg "Volunteers Lindsay Mills and Gene Adams devastated by ongoing theft and vandalism in historic carriages.")
COMMENT: Smell of a rat hangs over latest vandalism
AT first blush one could easily imagine that the attack on the historic 1939 railway carriage attached to the popular steam train in Warwick was the work of children.
The vandalism, a blow for the volunteers who nurture the train and carriage, was not an isolated incident.
The carriage was broken into Wednesday night and sprayed with white dry powder from the carriage fire extinguisher.
This came just after the carriage had been cleaned spotless in preparation for its weekend commitments.
The train and carriages have a journey to Wallangarra ahead of them so the cleaning exercise had to be repeated to deadline.
And perhaps typical of the attitude of these volunteers, a promise was made that the carriage would be as good as new for its passengers.
Consider for a minute that this powder attack was the third time the station had suffered acts by thieves and vandals in the past six weeks.
On one of the previous raids a GPS and a heat sensor used on the bearing of the steam engine were stolen. That does not seem the random nature of young vandals, now does it?
Starting to smell a rat? Maybe an adult two-legged rat?
Warwick police are on the case and we don't imagine we will have to wait long to find out who the rattus is.
Watch this space.
