
If you feel the need to damage any of Wollongong's newly-introduced fleet of e-scooters, be warned: vandalise them at your peril.
While the vast majority of riders are doing the right thing, some scooters have ended up in undesired locations.
Like the one one found submerged, helmet attached, at Wollongong harbour on Wednesday.
The Mercury has learned of a number of incidents involving the removal of batteries and even brakes.
A spokesperson for the e-scooter supplier, Neuron, has explained the process once a machine is damaged.
"If an e-scooter is vandalised, we remotely immobilise it as a safeguard for our riders," they said.
"It is then retrieved to the warehouse, for evaluation and repair. Our operations team prioritise dealing with isolated cases, and serious acts of vandalism will be reported to the police."
The supplier says it will continue to work closely with Wollongong City Council to refine its operating zone during the 12-month trial.
"We have designated parking in place on the coastal path and next to other waterways," they said.
"This means trips are only able to end in designated locations that are set back from the waters edge which reduces issues with dumped e-scooters."
As the scooters are GPS-enabled and connected, every trip - all 12,000 of them in the first week alone - is tracked and the location of the scooter is always known.
"Our local operations team conduct safety checks regularly when they are out repositioning the vehicles, cleaning or swapping batteries."
The company has pointed out the "overwhelming majority" of people are riding responsibly, with "over 99.99 per cent of trips ending safely and without incident".
However, that's not to say the supplier is opposed to a helping hand from you.
It is keen to hear of any issues and reminds people all e-scooters have registration plates for this very reason.
"Members of the public can report any issues to our customer support team, via our app or by phone and email - the details can be found on our website and on our e-scooters."
Reading this on mobile web? Download our news app. It's faster, easier to read and we'll send you alerts for breaking news as it happens. Download in the Apple Store or Google Play.