The most vociferous opponents of plans to take water from the Aupōuri aquifer to support the peninsula's burgeoning avocado industry have denied responsibility for significant vandalism at Mapua Orchard's development south of Pukenui.
Police have been called in after windbreaks were slashed and daubed with 'We Are Water' and 'Water Thieves,' irrigation pipes were cut and trees damaged.
Karyn Nikora-Kerr said We Are Water was an informal group of like-minded people who were concerned for the aquifer, but she had only heard about the vandalism via social media, and was certain it had not been carried out by a member of the group.
"It's not our style. It's not good for us and it's not good for the work we've been doing over the past two years," she said. While she "totally understood" that avocados were currently providing a lot of employment, she did not believe the industry would last long-term.
She also understood that people were feeling frustrated, and that someone might have expressed that the wrong way.