Canberra's Mr Fluffy homeowners have been dealt another blow as opportunistic thieves and dumpers target houses that have been surrendered and earmarked for demolition.
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Rubbish has been dumped on lawns, trees ripped from yards and gardens vandalised in a rash of brazen incidents that owners say intensified after the full list of affected homes was made public on July 1.
Residents say the offenders have used the public release of the 1022 Mr Fluffy addresses as "a shopping list" and their actions showed the community still hadn't fully grasped the devastating impact of the crisis.
Fluffy Owners and Residents' Action Group founder Brianna Heseltine said the acts placed added pressure on homeowners who were already under enormous emotional and financial strain.
"These people are trying to reclaim items to help rebuild their lives and for people to take advantage of the list release is a very low act. We saw this kind of pilfering after the Canberra fires"
She was aware of a "a small but distressing number" of cases of vandalism and looting since the list had been released.
Lisa and Andrew Ziolkowski and their two young children were forced to abandon their Latham home a year ago after tests detected deadly blue asbestos, or crocidolite.
They planned to shift a prized ornamental claret ash tree to help establish a garden in the barren yard of their new Holder home under the ACT Asbestos Response Taskforce's plant retrieval month.
But when Mr Ziolkowski went to dig up the two-metre tall deciduous tree in their former garden last weekend he discovered the tree had gone.
"He was very disappointed," Mrs Ziolkowski said. "He'd planned for it to have a prominent spot in our new backyard."
She said it seemed "a bit suspicious" that the tree went missing soon after the list was published.
"There have been people abusing the fact the houses have been vacated for a long time but I just feel the list exacerbated the problem and excels the ability for people to pick and choose homes."
Mrs Ziolkowski said she realised in the scheme of things, the plant's disappearance could seem trivial. But she said it was just one more time owners felt their situation hadn't been understood.
"When someone takes what little you have left, it hurts."
"After the horrendous ordeal that it's been, it's been a bit of a slap in the face. It's benefiting from someone else's misery."
"Some people must be seeing it as a shopping list."
Matthew Rohrlach discovered rubbish, part of an old pergola, a discarded irrigation system and tree stumps dumped at his Duffy home in recent weeks.
He settled on the Mr Fluffy property under the government's buyback scheme the day before the list was published and said waste started to appear on the site a couple of days later.
Mr Rohrlach said people "just started raiding" as pop-up sprinklers and pickets were also dug up from his yard.
"It's really disappointing.
"I guess it is the public's right to know but it's not fair."
Annabel Yagos, whose family was one of the worst hit in the crisis, had pebbles, plants and parts of a retaining wall stolen from the driveway of her surrendered Mr Fluffy home.
"I just felt physically sick and you don't quite know how to comprehend it because it's such a mix of emotions. You feel such hurt but then your anger overrides that."
The couple alerted the taskforce and Mrs Yagos said they "didn't get much sympathy, but they acknowledged it".
"We sold our house to the government so I guess they would see it as it hasn't been stolen from us, it's been stolen from the government."
Neighbours urged to report suspicious activity
Dumpers and looters have been warned items taken from abandoned Mr Fluffy homes could be contaminated and "robust" security measures were in place to deter criminals.
An ACT Asbestos Taskforce spokeswoman said there had been seven recorded incidents of vandalism or theft at the 628 properties the government now owned under the buyback scheme.
There had also been six reports of items being left 'dumped' at surrendered properties.
It had received a few anecdotal reports of similar incidents from owners of Mr Fluffy homes who still owned their properties.
The spokeswoman said the taskforce had not recorded "an increase in issues" or anecdotal reports from owners since the Mr Fluffy list was released.
Under the buyback scheme, the ACT government was responsible for security and maintenance at homes it owned under the buyback scheme.
There were "robust" security measures in place at those properties, including security patrols and alarms, and fines applied for looters, thieves and vandals, the spokeswoman said.
Doors and windows had been screwed shut and items left at the homes were sprayed with red dye to ward off thieves.
"These properties are contaminated therefore any items remaining in them should be considered contaminated also," the spokeswoman said.
She urged neighbours to keep an eye out on abandoned Mr Fluffy properties and report any suspicious activity to police or the taskforce.
Report illegal dumping to Access Canberra 13 22 81.
