Vandals try to blow up Marlborough Sounds DOC hut

A 41-year-old Conservation Department hut in Marlborough Sounds will have to be removed after vandals tried to blow it up.

Damage to the Matai Bay Hut in Tennyson Inlet was discovered last week, but Sounds DOC visitor assets manager Mark Nelson said he thought the incident may have happened during Easter Weekend.

Vandals smashed all the windows in the remote hut and appear to have used an axe to put holes in the roof and walls before trying to blow the hut up.

DOC rangers found a galvanised bucket and pressurised gas canister sitting on the bench.

"Luckily it didn't explode otherwise we would be dealing with no hut at all," Mr Nelson told the Marlborough Expres.

The hut is in a remote part of the inlet and can only be accessed by boat or kayak. The nearest launch is about 10 minutes away in Duncan's Bay.

A decision about what to do with the hut would be made over the coming days, but it was likely the hut would not stay in the same spot, Mr Nelson said.

The hut had been damaged a couple of times in the past, but never to this extent, Mr Nelson said.

- NZPA