Stolen electric vehicle (EV) charging cables, torn up sports fields and vandalism have left the City of Newcastle "extremely disappointed".
In recent weeks, delinquents have stolen cables from two council-owned fast EV charging stations and damaged valued community sports facilities at Smith Park at Hamilton North and Kentish Oval at Lambton.
The thefts have taken EV chargers out of action at Cleary Street at Hamilton and the No. 2 Sportsground car park at Newcastle West.
In a statement, the council said replacement cables have been ordered and it is working to restore them as soon as possible.
"The loss of income from the EV chargers will place further pressure on our budget at a time when staff are already undertaking a review of expenditure to enable council's decision to reduce pool entry to $2," the statement said.
At Smith Park, vandalism recently disrupted local sports clubs and the work of volunteers who support community sport.
Repair work is under way and is expected to be completed on Tuesday afternoon.
Kentish Oval was also vandalised earlier this month, but council crews were able to repair the damage before scheduled sports games or training were affected.
The council statement said it acknowledges the inconvenience and frustration vandalism causes for residents, volunteers and the people who use its facilities.
"City of Newcastle continues to investigate options to reduce the risk of future incidents across its network of community facilities," the statement said.
"However, with more than 150 sports fields, 250 parks and a large network of public infrastructure across the local government area, it is not realistic to prevent every act of theft or vandalism.
"Instead, as a community we need to do all we can to discourage acts of vandalism and to ensure people respect public infrastructure such as parks and sporting fields."
The stolen EV charger cables have been reported to police.
The council said several other privately-owned and council-owned EV sites have been targeted by thieves in surrounding local government areas.
City of Newcastle has urged anyone with information about these incidents or others to contact NSW Police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
