Wanganui Softball Association will have to find $1500 to replace part of a fence that was stolen from their grounds before a major tournament.
Members of the club arrived at the Wanganui Ballpark in Puriri St last week to find five sections of the metal link fence had gone missing from around their playing diamond. The waratahs supporting the fence had also gone.
It couldn't have come at a worse time - the association was hosting an under-15 boys softball tournament, with 200 boys from Wanganui, Auckland, Wellington, Waikato, Manawatu and Hawke's Bay taking part.
The theft left the diamond with a large gap in its perimeter fence.
Association secretary Lindsay Edwards said the club was "totally gutted".