Bald Hill vandals strike again, ripping out trees and wrecking signs

After several attacks over recent weeks some residents now say the car park should be closed at night and CCTV cameras installed to catch the perpetrators.

Nearby resident Carl Doran said vandals over "four to five" nights recently wrecked the signage for the new giant staircase to Stanwell Park beach, ripped out seven trees, dragged the large historic anchor onto the road each night, ripped out taps, and overturned a large industrial bin onto the road.

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After Wollongong City Council fixed some of these, they were wrecked again soon afterwards.

Mr Doran said Bald Hill was an iconic spot which welcomed tens or hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, as well as featuring in movies and tourism campaigns.

"All of this means it is a great asset to the locals and others and a huge money maker for the Illawarra and should be kept in pristine condition," he said.

"It is hard to imagine how many Instagram images have been sent around the world from here in the last 10 years."

He said parking restrictions, boom gates closed at night and/or police patrols should be used to stop the destruction.

Mr Doran said the recent attacks seemed like the work of the same group, who seemed to have a growing "purpose".

"One time they even tore out the 2m-high brass plaque of Lawrence Hargrave. It was dragged and found about 100m up the road," he said.

"If nothing is done to stop the groups gathering there, there will be regular ongoing vandalism like graffiti, burnouts and property damage, which will on occasions escalate to large-scale damage and even fires.

"Vandalism has been an ongoing problem for the 10 years I have been living nearby but it has escalated considerably in the last few weeks."

But while Wollongong City Council said it was aware of the destruction, it did not have plans to install CCTV or close the car park at night and would "monitor" the area.

"Wollongong City Council is aware of three separate vandalism incidents at Bald Hill that took place during the school holidays," a spokeswoman said.

"The vandalism included the anchor that was part of the landscape design being dragged onto the car park from the garden bed, the removal of no standing signs and damage to a water pipe above the kiosk.

"We will continue to monitor the area and will work closely with Wollongong Police to investigate the situation. We do not have immediate plans to install CCTV or to close the carpark."

The council encouraged anyone with information on the vandalism to contact either council or police.