Isolated Doc huts latest target of vandalism

A spate of vandalism hitting West Coast Doc huts is "absolutely mindless", police say.

Tracking down the culprits who daubed swastikas on Kirwans Hut last month has so far drawn a blank.

West Coast police response manager Senior Sergeant Brent Cook said several other incidents have since emerged at isolated Department of Conservation sites and the region’s senior crime officer is continuing to investigate.

He said police have no clear leads yet on who targeted the Kirwans Hut, about two days walk into the Victoria Forest Park northeast of Reefton.

In January, vandals defaced the hut’s coloursteel cladding with swastikas using white paint stored at the site.

They also ripped off spouting, damaged a toilet and generally made a mess.

In March 2023, the Back Country Hut Trust extensively renovated the hut, including recladding it with coloursteel in a traditional red.

Ridding the swastikas required several layers of paint by Doc staff.

Snr Sgt Cook said police are looking at other sites, although a link between incidents was not yet clear.

But it left a sour taste for the West Coast community and unfairly penalised the users of what are public recreational assets.

"It just seems absolutely mindless ... it’s just so stupid."

In the meantime, police had some items of interest from Kirwans Hut but more would be known pending forensic tests.

"Our main line of inquiry is going to be those items," Snr Sgt Cook said.

Concern was tangible at the West Coast Conservation Board meeting on February 21.

A Doc operations report for the board noted a wider spate of vandalism having "plagued the area" besides Kirwans .

These included in the historic Waiuta area of the Victoria Forest Park at the historic Big River mine winding engine shed, where 80 panes of glass were smashed. Several hours walk away at the historic Waiuta township, Doc staff found blocked toilets and doors smashed.

Acting Greymouth/Mawhera operations manager Bryan Annandale said the impact of vandals has been widespread across the area.

"Since (Kirwans) was reported we have had a bunch of other things happen as well," he said.

The board’s deputy chairwoman, Katie Milne, said education could be timely given the Conservation Estate is a public good.

While some might just say "it’s Doc huts", people needed reminding "this is your land", Miss Milne said.

Board member Lisa Steenhauer noted Greymouth was also hit by vandals recently, with road and location signs ripped down.

Doc Western South Island operations director Mark Davies said it went beyond being just a department problem.

 - LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

By Brendon McMahon