The Department of Conservation has pleaded with vandals to stop targeting its signs after bullet holes were found in one and repair is proving costly.

Green and yellow signs across New Zealand have been subjected to being keyed, driven into and shot at, leaving some signs ineligible and having to be removed, costing the department hundreds of thousands of dollars.

DoC said there are 26,759 signs across the country and it has spent $350,523 on signage in the 2024/2025 financial year.

That budget has shot up to nearly $590,000 for next year.

Of the 1155 total incidents from July 2022, DoC said 902 of its signs marked for replacement or repair were in the South Island

“It’s really frustrating to see the needless destruction of DoC signage and infrastructure,” said DoC asset inspector Charlie Barnett, whose job it is to see if the signs need maintenance.

“It is also a safety concern as people could be walking the tracks while signs are being shot at with projectiles travelling far beyond the eye.”

Barnett said the signs in the back country tend to be riddled with bullet holes, while those closer to town are more likely to be covered in graffiti, knocked over or driven into.

“Be the better person in nature. Save target practice for the range and leave the signs alone.”

DoC Asset Inspector Charlie Barnett said signs riddled with bullet holes tend to be in the back country. Photo / DoC

DoC strategic asset manager Kushla Tapper said this was both a vandalism and public safety issue.

“Some signs lose their reflective quality when vandalised and that means they can’t be seen in poor weather conditions or the dark.

DoC said the damaged signs are a public safety issue. Photo / DoC

“This can be the difference between safety and significant harm for travellers. These signs contain essential information.”

Tapper said the money spent on repairing these signs could be spent elsewhere, such as protecting biodiversity or maintaining huts and tracks.

DoC said damaged signs were found across New Zealand. Photo / DoC

“We have a finite budget and are always trying to prioritise our work. We could maintain more visitor assets if we didn’t have to keep reassigning funds to fixing vandalism of essential signage.”

DoC has urged members of the public to record the location, and take pictures of, any damaged signs and send the information to the local DoC office.