It has cost the tax payer at least a couple of hundred dollars to clean up the work of a nasty graffiti culprit.

A host of buildings including bus shelters, supermarket walls and even a clinic have been defaced with the views of a homophobe either very late on Sunday night or in the wee hours of Monday morning.

Royal Gazette photographers noticed the damage on Monday as far west as Somerset and in the central area on the TB Cancer & Health building wall and the North Village Community Club clubhouse.

Warwick appeared to be particularly hard hit with bus shelters on both the Middle and South Shore roads splattered with the homophobic graffiti. The community education school at the foot of Khyber Pass also had hateful massages plastered on its walls.

Patricia Chapman, executive officer of Warwick's community education programme, narrowed down the time that the culprit must have struck.

"It wasn't there on Friday, Saturday or Sunday evening," she said, " I know because I was at work. I am assuming that it must have happened late Sunday night or in the wee hours of Monday morning. I was surprised when staff called me on Monday to say what was there."

Ms Chapman said the mess was quickly cleaned up by Works and Engineering who were called in and straight away painted over it.

"By noonday on Monday it was no longer there," she said.

And Ms Chapman said the act was all the more "unfortunate" because of the positive contribution the community school affords.

"I have no idea who did it," she said. "It is unusual and although it has happened in this area before, this is the first time they have targeted this building. I don't know if this is a precursor to Halloween but it is unfortunate because of the type of work we do do for the community."

The graffiti messages echo an anti gay poster which was pinned up around Hamilton last month. But while Police media relations manager Dwayne Caines said the Service had not linked the two, he deplored this week's graffiti and reminded: "Wilful damage is an offence under the criminal code punishable by up to two years in prison."

He added that Police inquiries into the matter were ongoing

Meanwhile Police confirmed last night that no one has sought permission for a march for this week Friday. An anti gay march was promoted in last month's hate poster and the date listed for the event was this Friday.