The lap flags had been torn down and cigarettes were lying by the pool and floating in the water.

It was the third time the pool has been broken into in two weeks. Between Christmas and New Year the fence was cut twice, and beer bottles littered around the pool.

Read more: Golden Square Pool committee looking beyond its two year plan

Golden Square Pool committee president Sam Kane said it was “heartbreaking” for volunteers to be confronted with the damage.

Repair works and clean-up take up volunteers’ time, extra security costs money that could be better spent elsewhere. 

But Mr Kane was more concerned with the insult to volunteers who put hours of labour into maintaining the community facility.

Among the people who discovered the scene of the break in was a junior volunteer.

“For him to see that people are using the facility out of ours but leaving it in a disrespectful manner was really hurtful to him and all of our volunteers. It’s not a nice sight at all,” Mr Kane said.

“It’s really… hurtful to our volunteers who give up their time everyday throughout the whole year, and then find that people have been in their overnight disrespecting that.”

Volunteers spent hours cleaning up to prepare the pool for opening after the break in discovered on Saturday.

If the break-ins continue the pool will have to install more security cameras, costing money that could have been used elsewhere in the community facility.

“It was really disappointing to see that members of the community would feel that it was okay to come into the facility overnight and leave it in the condition that is was in the next day,” Mr Kane said.

“People might not have thought of the latter consequences of their actions on our community and on our volunteers especially.

“To have that happen makes them feel and believe that people don't care about the work that they’ve done.”

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