Glaziers say it is likely many tens of thousands of dollars' damage has been done to buildings in St Kilda and South Dunedin in the past six months, and vandals continue to wreak havoc most weekends.
On Saturday night and early yesterday morning, windows were smashed at the Dunedin Rugby Football Club's rooms on Moana Rua Rd (14 windows), Pirates Football Club's rooms in Hancock Park (16), the Otago Model Engineering Society clubrooms on John Wilson Ocean Dr (two) and Melchester Rovers Association Football Club's rooms in Marlow Park (two).
A Dunedin Rugby Football Club spokesman said the club was fed up with the mindlessness of the attacks.
The weekend attack was the second time this month windows at the club had been smashed. The first episode saw $4000 damage done.
It had upset a lot of club members, he said.
"[The vandals] just don't care. If any of the club members found these kids, they'd strangle them."
The replacement cost of the windows would be met by insurance, but half a dozen people spent hours cleaning up the mess yesterday as up to 300 children were expected inside the clubrooms for an open day in the afternoon.
Security cameras could be fitted to the building, but the amateur club did not have the money, he said.
Glazier Josh Hinch, from Crawford Glass, estimated replacing the clubrooms' broken windows would cost up to $10,000 - double that if the club wanted to fit laminated windows, which would be harder to smash.
The total bill for the damage done at all four buildings would probably be about twice that figure, he said.
Over the past six months he had been called to non-accidental window breakages around South Dunedin every second weekend, he said.
Some places, like the Dunedin Rugby Club's rooms, the Ice Stadium, the badminton hall and the St Kilda Surf Lifesaving Club had been hit more than once, Mr Hinch said.
A glazier from Otago Glass said he and colleagues had also noticed there was more window vandalism than usual in the past few months.
He repaired two smashed windows at the Otago Model Engineering Society Club yesterday.
It appeared large pieces of schist rock, possibly from a nearby playground, had been thrown with such force they smashed through the reinforced glass.
Late last year, six windows were smashed at King's High School, in Bay View Rd, and Macandrew Intermediate, in Macandrew Rd, and $10,000 damage was done to windows at the St Kilda Surf Lifesaving Club in John Wilson Ocean Dr. Windows were smashed the same week at businesses in South Rd and Hillside Rd.
Senior Sergeant Phil McDoull, of Dunedin, said police were investigating the weekend's vandalism.
Anyone with information was urged to contact Constable Matt Stoddard, at the South Dunedin police station, on 455-1199.
