A charity-funded sign to help the most vulnerable people in the Tauranga community has been defaced by a man wearing a ‘MAGA' shirt.

CCTV camera footage from Te Tuinga Whānau shows the man spray-painting the sign at about 3.08pm on June 14.

The sign belongs to Te Tuinga Whānau Support Services Trust's ‘The Happy Puku' on Cameron Road – a service that aims to teach people who have experienced homelessness to ‘grow a kai, catch a kai, and cook a kai' to learn skills and enter employment through professional catering events.

Chief imagination officer of Te Tuinga Whānau, Tommy ‘Kapai' Wilson, says that the act is incredibly saddening.

'We made this banner originally to protect and keep our whānau safe,” says Tommy.

'This was part of our own billboard campaign that was supporting the [Covid-19] vaccination effort. We came up with cool messaging around the time of the One Love festival.”

The sign before it was defaced. Supplied photos.

The sign depicted the slogan: ‘One love, three shots, boost it bro'.

'What hurts about this situation is that someone has tried to attack a group like ours. We have been looking after the homeless and keeping them safe during the Covid-19 pandemic.

'Whether you're vaccinated or unvaccinated, I respect your opinion. However, you do not deface other person's property.

'It's unacceptable. We take it like he has disfigured our Taonga (treasure). It is like our marae – that is where we work – and for him to come along and deface it is culturally very uncool.

'It hurts all of our staff when they see that. I had to take it down last night, and our staff was very proud of our messaging when we put it up.

'When 98 per cent of the country gets vaccinated, and two per cent thinks they can go and deface positive messaging, they can't get away with that.

'From a tikanga Māori point of view, it really amplifies the damage he has done. He has not just done it to us, he has done it to 85 staff, and the 168 families that we are looking after and keeping healthy.”

Tommy adds that he has sent all relevant photos and information to the Tauranga Police, and wanted to get the message out to the public and hold the defacer accountable.

CCTV images of the man Tommy says defaced their sign. Supplied photos.