SECTARIAN graffiti has been daubed on a daycare unit catering for children aged from five months to five years old in Londonderry.
Staff at the Foyle Day Care centre based at Kennedy Place in the Fountain estate were shocked when they arrived at work on Wednesday to find slogans scrawled in black paint on their premises.
Loyalist leaders yesterday said they would condemn anyo
ne involved in painting sectarian graffiti.
At the same time as the attack on the daycare centre, other graffiti targeting a resident of the Fountain estate also appeared on walls in the area. All of it was written using black paint.
A spokeswoman for the parents' committee at the centre said there were 20 members of staff who were all female, adding that one of the slogans said "Taigs out".
She said: "This happens every year, though it usually starts around April.
"It's getting out of hand and is very distressing. We have a mixed staff and we are the biggest employer in the Fountain.
"The staff is mixed and the intake of children is mixed."
The spokeswoman said 48 children are being cared for at the facility at present, which has been based at its current premises for 20 years.
"It's getting worse. Something happens every year, but all we want to do is get on with our jobs."
Police are investigating the matter.
"It's getting worse. Something happens every year but all we want to do is get on with our jobs. We don't know whether the godfathers are behind it but our fear is that they are."
"It's getting worse. Something happens every year but all we want to do is get on with our jobs. We don't know whether the godfathers are behind it but our fear is that they are."
"We don't know whether the godfathers are behind it but our fear is that they are."
Police are investigatingWhile such incidents have happened before, she said the organisation tried to adopt a "low-key" approach. She added that the property was owned by the Housing Executive which was trying to get it cleaned up.
The spokeswoman said: "It's getting worse. Something happens every year but all we want to do is get on with our jobs. We don't know whether the godfathers are behind it but our fear is that they are."
David Malcolm, a local spokesman for the UPRG, which has political links to the UDA, said he did not believe loyalists were behind the attack.
Mr Malcolm said: "We would condemn this sort of action. I would say it was not the work of loyalists. Loyalism is now about doing our part to bring communities together. Criminality is a matter for the police and I would urge anyone with information about this to go to the PSNI."
A resident of the estate, who asked not to be named said: "I'm not aware of graffiti at the Day Care centre but there was other graffiti scrawled in the estate that night using black paint, which was offensive and was targeted at a resident. People demanded that it be removed straight away."
