Welwyn Garden City pupils’ anti-dog mess posters daubed with Nazi-style swastikas

Head Paul Gray with pupils L-R Katie O'Donnell 11, Kyle Wood 11, Liberty Burrow 9, Alex Manhood 10 Archant

A headteacher has spoken of his shock after “mindless” vandals defaced schoolchildren’s posters with swastikas in Welwyn Garden City.

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Posters designed by children at Harwood Hill Nursery were daubed with swastikas by vandals on Wednesday Posters designed by children at Harwood Hill Nursery were daubed with swastikas by vandals on Wednesday

Designed by youngsters at Harwood Hill Primary School, Harwood Close, the signs encouraged dog owners to pick up their pets’ mess and dispose of it correctly.

They were hung along the hedge around the back of the school.

On Wednesday parents complained to headteacher Philip Gray that the black symbols had been daubed on the signs and removed them.

Mr Gray said: “It’s sad, it really is sad.

"You try and do something nice and this is what happens." Headteacher Philip Gray



“You try and do something nice and this is what happens.”

He added: “The school council were upset, they are very proud of their school.

“If it gets ripped down we can put it back up, but they have all been defaced.”

The signs displayed information about the diseases dog faeces can carry and pictures drawn by the children.

Mr Gray said: “We had some parents come to inform us that there was a large amount of dogs’ mess on a pathway that runs along the back of our school grounds parallel to the viaduct.

“The children were treading in it and it was being carried into the school playground and inside the building itself.”

He added there was also evidence of people throwing dog mess over the school fence.

“It is such a sad time when a school is trying to support the community to make it a better place, and mindless vandalism means they (the posters) have to be taken down and replaced,” he said.