Last week a "road closed" sign was snapped off and thrown into a nearby bush and a wooden barrier was also damaged.
It comes as the Waitaki District Council is facing having to make "big, brave decisions" about the road’s future.
"It’s always frustrating to see vandalism on any of our community-owned property and something like the road sign on Beach Rd," Mrs Tavendale said.
"There’s a safety element to that, too, which is disappointing."
The scenic coastal route that connected Oamaru and Kakanui was closed during Project Reclaim, when historic dump sites were cleaned up.
The northern stretch remains closed due to erosion concerns.
Late last year, Allied Media reported retaining the road could cost the council more than $10million.
When asked about the future of Beach Rd this week, Mrs Tavendale said the council would have to make some "big, brave decisions".
"We understand the love of the road, and as a Kakanui resident I share the love of the road, but our role as council is going to weigh that up with the affordability aspect and look at all the other competing factors."
Last year, the previous council asked for an assessment of the social value of retaining the road to be given to the new council.
However, as they did not allocate any budget to that assessment, the new council would have to vote on whether they want to fund that assessment.
Mrs Tavendale said the assessment would offer a better understanding of the social implications of a road closure versus the benefits the road being open.
"So, that that could be part of the conversation."
"There are costs to that information being brought together, so I think the next conversation we’re going to have, which will be in the very near future, will be the costs around that coming to council and us deciding whether to vote on spending the money to do that.
"Because there’s not currently a budget voted for that work to be done by the previous council, we need to understand what the cost implications are and decide whether or not we vote on a budget for it.
"There’s work happening in the background but it will come, in time, back in front of council."
In a report commissioned by council in late 2024, engineering firm Beca outlined four possible options and their associated costs.
However, Mrs Tavendale said it did not include the work of Project Reclaim and would need to be updated before any final decision.
"There will need to be a revisit if we’re going to make a decision around Beach Rd.
"It’s certainly got some points that are valid and the overarching issues are the same, but there’s probably a few of the details that need to be updated on that," she said.
Waitaki District Council natural and built environment director Roger Cook said the recent damage to the road signs would cost "probably a few hundred dollars" to fix.
"Unfortunately, we occasionally have vandalism which is both senseless, frustrating and costs the ratepayer.
"The road has been closed to traffic since August 2024, and is used by dog-walkers, cyclists and pedestrians.
"In December, council installed some safety fencing around areas of increased erosion along the seaward side of the road."
