Play equipment stolen in brazen overnight burglary at East Kalgoorlie School months after mercury scare

Playground and gardening equipment worth about $15,000 have been stolen from a Kalgoorlie-Boulder primary school months after a mercury scare forced the campus to close. Students and teachers arrived at East Kalgoorlie Primary School on Friday morning to discover toys and play equipment missing from the kindergarten playground. Principal Sally Fowler said the thieves had removed and damaged two fence panels to gain access to the school. “After an already challenging year it is extremely disappointing as the loss of this equipment impacts all of our students,” Ms Fowler said. “The play equipment taken provides students with the opportunity to not only play but to practice a range of social, emotional and physical skills. “Our kindy’s and pre-primary’s were very upset to find their favourite play equipment missing. The stolen playground gear includes a large timber mud kitchen with accessories, a big car play frame, a jumbo outdoor connect four game and an outdoor storage box filled with sand play toys and trucks. The gardener’s shed was also broken into with a Stihl electric lawnmower and Ryobi high-pressure cleaner taken. Ms Fowler urged anyone with information on where the stolen items may be to reach out to police. “We would like to have the equipment returned,” she said. “If anyone knows about this please contact the police in the first instance.” The burglary comes after the Williamstown campus was forced to close in February when police shut down a suspected bikie-run backyard refinery at a nearby property which had used mercury to extract gold from ore. Although initial testing detected potentially elevated levels of mercury on school grounds, no decontamination works were required prior to the school reopening in June. Police confirmed in a statement on social media the burglary incident was under investigation and believed to have taken place between 6pm on Thursday and 5am on Friday. If you know who may be involved or where the property is located contact Kalgoorlie police on 131 444 or Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000 and quote IR 090824 0800 16926