Australian woman, 43, gets over 5 months' jail for spray-painting walls & vans at Upper Bukit Timah's Salvation Army

A 43-year-old Australian woman who spray-painted offensive words at The Salvation Army at Upper Bukit Timah on Dec. 25, 2025, has been sentenced to five months and six weeks' jail.

The woman, Dianna Ong, pleaded guilty to a charge of vandalism on Mar. 9, 2026, The Straits Times reported.

Red spray paint

According to charge sheets and court documents seen by Mothership, Ong, who was previously charged in court on Dec. 27, 2025, used a can of red spray paint to spray graffiti on walls and three vans parked in The Salvation Army's compound.

She chose Christmas Day to commit her acts of graffiti because it was a Christian holiday and the offence had been intended as an act of protest against the Salvation Army.

Ong then took photographs and videos of the graffiti she had sprayed and published them on her Facebook account in posts visible to members of the public, including those who were neither her friends nor followers on Facebook and Instagram.

A person in charge of the morning service at the premises discovered the graffiti, after which the security manager, who was alerted, covered up the graffiti with a cloth before calling the police.

Arrested

Following this, police said they received a call for assistance regarding a case of graffiti at Praisehaven — The Salvation Army at about 9:15am on Dec. 25, 2025.

A can of red spray paint was found at the premises and seized as a case exhibit.

Photos of the scene showed clothes placed over the graffiti to cover the words.

Officers from Jurong Police Division established Ong's identity and arrested her within five hours.

Court

In light of this incident, Deputy Public Prosecutor Brian Wong said Ong's acts caused more than S$3,000 in damages to The Salvation Army.

Ong apologised for her acts in court, ST reported, adding that Ong said her mother suffers from anxiety and depression and hopes to visit her as soon as possible.

District Judge Paul Chan said that the circumstances surrounding Ong's offences were not trivial as she had vandalised multiple surfaces and structures, and her actions were calculated to cause as much damage as possible.

In addition, she had used words that were highly offensive to The Salvation Army.

"After committing the offence, she further published the acts on social media, therefore increasing the impact of her offending acts," said the judge.

Penalties

Those convicted of vandalism may be fined up to S$2,000 and jailed for up to three years. Offenders may also receive between three and eight strokes of the cane.

Women are not liable for caning, even though the Vandalism Act 1966 provides for caning for offenders, the police said.

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