A town has been “infected with a plague of graffiti” – with yobs even spraying “rapist” on the side of a pensioner’s house.

Various objects in the heart of Faversham have been used as canvasses by vandals, including BT phone relay boxes, road signs and bins.

Even the Grade II*-listed Guildhall in Market Place has been targeted – with a crude smiley face now marring the 449-year-old structure.

Sue Medhurst, 76, lives in a historic property in Court Street which has been scrawled with the word “rapist”.

“Antisocial behaviour and vandalism have definitely increased in the past year and it’s not just limited to graffiti,” she told KentOnline.

“Even if you could or did catch them in the middle of the act, what would happen? It’s not just about the council.

“It is becoming something of a plague and it’d be nice to see the authorities do more to try and stop it.

“I wouldn’t mind it if it’s done tastefully and properly but this is anything but.”

The vile remark first appeared on the house two years ago, with other vandals since adding names and crossing them out again above the word.

Having lived in the home since 1986, Mrs Medhurst hopes to sell the property next year but will need to cover up the graffiti – something she says painters are refusing to do as the wall is too close to a road.

The Faversham and Swale East Labour Group says the town is suffering from a graffiti “epidemic”.

In a letter penned to Cllr Hannah Perkin and the Faversham Town Council environment committee, Labour representatives say “urgent intervention” is required.

Councillors Julian Saunders, Rob Crayford and Kieran Golding wrote: “Faversham is a historic and beautiful town which is infected with a plague of graffiti.

“This epidemic is consuming the appearance of this historical town, impacting tourism and encouraging further anti-social behaviour.

“Urgent intervention is needed to combat this epidemic. This must be treated as an emergency.”

Cllr Perkin says while the issue needs fixing, she doesn’t think the language used in the letter by Labour was appropriate.

“I was quite surprised to see it described as a plague and an epidemic, especially after what we’ve been through with the pandemic – I don’t particularly think it’s that but there are problem areas,” said the prospective Lib Dem parliamentary candidate.

“The thing that people want to see is councillors working together for the better of Faversham.

“I think there is a need for the environment committee to look at graffiti. We have discussed previously things like working with BT to address the issue of the phone relay boxes.

“Prevention work is really important and there’s a good argument for spaces where artwork is encouraged – some of it can be really artistic and it could stop graffiti being done elsewhere.

“We acknowledge there’s a problem. The environment committee will look at it but I think prevention work is much more effective than responsive work.”

KentOnline understands councillors are trying to gain permission from BT to tidy up the phone relay boxes.

Cllr Perkin added: “There’s a difficulty in knowing who is responsible for what – which is just a flaw in the political system in general – but people want to see leadership from the town council, which is right.

“Graffiti is actually a borough council responsibility so it’s something Swale Borough Council should be leading on – which is currently a Labour council.

“SBC have powers to remove graffiti from private properties which the town council don’t have and I think we need to be much more focused on what we can do to work on prevention.”

A Swale Borough Council spokesman said: “Graffiti is a mindless act of vandalism. It is costly to remove and diverts resources from other tasks within the borough. When graffiti that is on public property, such as litter bins, is reported to us we instruct Biffa to remove it.

“However, it is not our responsibility to remove graffiti from private property. We would only use our powers to remove graffiti from private property if it is offensive and the property owner has refused to remove it or is absent.

“In both cases, we would place a charge on the property to recover our costs of doing so.

“We have not seen a large increase in reports of graffiti, having only received 14 in Faversham within the last year but, if we catch anyone committing such an offence, they may be given a fixed penalty notice, or through a restorative process, be requested to remove it.”