Sharing the road to adventure

Souvenir hunters snatch Redbank Gorge info signs

Have you seen this sign?

October 31, 2014

While a spate of graffiti attacks at iconic national parks in the US has been making major headlines, it seems that Australia is not immune from similar acts of disrespect.

According to the Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission, it is ‘fairly common’ for information signage to be ‘souvenired’ from high-profile destinations.

In the latest incident of its kind, the organisation is asking the people who stole two interpretation signs from the Redbank Gorge information shelter to return them.

The ABC reports that the signs went missing from the tourist attraction in the West MacDonnell National Park, 150 kilometres west of Alice Springs, over the weekend.

The signs demonstrated the park’s walks and wildlife.

The acting district manager, Gary Weir, told the ABC while there were fines for stealing signs, they were expensive to replace and he would prefer if they were just returned.

“We need to have these sorts of legislation in place to I guess prevent some things like this happening but it’s not always the case,” he said. “It is a fairly common occurrence for people to end up with signs in their backyards and whatnot as potentially a memento of either somewhere significant or just a something that they feel the need to take home.”

The ABC reports that there is a penalty of up to $1,000 for interfering with Parks and Wildlife Commission property.

While grey nomads are unlikely to be cruising the country with screwdrivers loading up their rigs with stolen signposts, they have often been accused of other acts of ‘souveniring’.

Have you ever taken something you shouldn’t while on the road? Maybe toilet roll, or soap, or seashells from beaches located in Marine National Parks? Confess below.

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