RSL attacked

By Kath Gannaway
LILYDALE RSL members are angry, and disgusted, with the lack of respect shown for the organisation by thieves who broke into the clubrooms on Sunday 19 July, looking for cash.
RSL welfare officer R.J. ‘Stud’ Buttell told the Mail both the main RSL building and the adjoining Yarra Valley Veterans’ Support Centre had been targeted.
“They smashed the back wall of the centre to get in, threw things around, scattered our records, pulled connections out of the computers and made a terrible mess.
“What I can’t understand, the thing that really upsets me is that they defecated all over the place,” he said.
The perpetrators broke a back window to gain entry to RSL clubrooms and continued their rampage.
“We have had to replace everything except our records,” said Mr Buttell, who said their services had been disrupted by the incident.
“We offer support to veterans and their families, help with whatever their disabilities are, and particularly provide help with the paperwork which is what puts most veterans off applying for their entitlements,” he said.
Mr Buttell said he didn’t believe the attack was targeted at the RSL as an organisation.
“Just the same,” he said, “It has left a bad taste in our mouths. We’re volunteers and you don’t expect to have to deal with this level of behaviour.”
Mooroolbark police apprehended two men as they left the property after a passerby reported hearing the commotion inside the buildings.
Mooroolbark Police have confirmed a 16-year-old male and a 30-year-old male will face charges in relation to the break-ins, damage and theft of cash.