Geovandalism

[+Hocky]

During the last two months 4 of my geocaches have been vandalized. The first one had 4 letter words scribbled in the log book. No problem. I only needed to tear out a few pages. This one was a good family cache. Trackables were also stolen. The 2nd one was dumped out on the ground and the container, a locknlock was taken. The other 2 were totally taken away. They were in the same park. All 4 caches were in Montgomery County , Maryland. Anyone else in this area?

[+lamoracke]

you might want to consider the more regional forum (or you just might get this topic moved there).

 

your caches all seem decently old so sounds like someone has something against that park perhaps, who knows, even a former geocacher with too much angst and time on their hands. Good luck.

 

looks like a neighboring cache around two of yours got vandalized a while back at the same time and has been fine for a month or two since being replaced. Perhaps it was just a one time thing hopefully.

Edited February 14, 2012 by lamoracke

[knowschad]

During the last two months 4 of my geocaches have been vandalized. The first one had 4 letter words scribbled in the log book. No problem. I only needed to tear out a few pages. This one was a good family cache. Trackables were also stolen. The 2nd one was dumped out on the ground and the container, a locknlock was taken. The other 2 were totally taken away. They were in the same park. All 4 caches were in Montgomery County , Maryland. Anyone else in this area?

 

Muggles. Hide your caches better.

[+terrkan78]

I'm sorry you're dealing with that - I would definitely be unhappy if that happened to my caches. You could try replacing the missing caches with inexpensive containers and see if it happens again. Vandals seem to have a short attention span, but now that they know where the caches are, if the mood strikes they may come back. From lamoracke's post above, it sounds as though at least you weren't the only target.

 

You could move the caches a little and see if that foils the vandals. You could also make the caches a little more inaccessible (like up a tree) - I'm thinking that'll deter most vandals (but it will also deter some potential finders).

 

I hope it turns out that this was a one-time vandal run through the park. Once is bad enough!

[+jellis]

As previous posting I would agree to moving it slightly. Within 20ft you wont't have to change the coords that much. Camo it (or more) depending on what you already have.

Now I would say make it a PMO cache if it is a non PM doing it. But it could be a PM doing it and it wouldn't help much. Also I notice many non PMs finding it, so you must have a lot of them in the area and that would prevent them from enjoying your caches.

Me I would do it, but thats me...

[+OZ2CPU]

all CO try to get their caches, vandalized, stolen, broken and such..

it is a part of it, the less you feel personally affected by this, the better.

I tried a few different solutions.

 

halve the cache size after each problem,

sooner or later it will be hard for loosers

to find and steal, but ok also only the smartest cachers can find it.

 

use cheaper and more crappy cache containers,

ok need service more often, but ok you live close and can easy fix it.

 

make it harder to steal..

in one location, my best ammo box hide got stolen,

so I took a new ammo box and welded a massive solid steel bar to it,

I needed a lift to put it there !!! now kids, come and rob it !!

also I left the steel ugly and rusty and dirty !! so no one want to touch it or put it in their car,

the ammo box is nice and fine to open and log.

Edited February 14, 2012 by OZ2CPU

[+Isonzo Karst]

I've seen this kind of thing several times.

All the caches less then a mile from parking disappeared from a state park a few years ago. All were replaced, with some trepidation about it happening again, but it didn't.

 

A string of hides in the Ocala National Forest disappeared. Most of those weren't replaced at the time. Though over time new caches were hidden. It was a one time deal.

 

All the many caches in a cache dense county preserve disappeared, twice, a couple of years apart. I believe the cache owners simply replaced both times. They went to a lot of micro caches after the first disappearance, but still used decent quality containers (matchsafe, bison tubes - containers with an o ring).

 

Making the cache PMO *may* help.

 

I once replaced a trading cache with a micro when I realized it had been found by children.

They weren't removing it, but they were raiding the contents, replacing swag with rocks ;-) and took a TB. Eventually I put back the trading cache.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

so I took a new ammo box and welded a massive solid steel bar to it,

I needed a lift to put it there !!! now kids, come and rob it !!

also I left the steel ugly and rusty and dirty !!

Sounds like such an 'inviting' cache! I would 'love' to place (your) trackable there.

 

Having caches muggled or outright stolen is bad -- no argument there. But, to actually enable the muggles and thieves simply by using cheap, crappy or massively-weighted caches is NOT the answer. IMO you should simply archive those caches and let the thieves and muggles 'starve' themselves to death. To continually feed them -- and have other cachers unwittingly contribute to their booty, is simply.... well.... unspeakable.

[knowschad]

During the last two months 4 of my geocaches have been vandalized. The first one had 4 letter words scribbled in the log book. No problem. I only needed to tear out a few pages. This one was a good family cache. Trackables were also stolen. The 2nd one was dumped out on the ground and the container, a locknlock was taken. The other 2 were totally taken away. They were in the same park. All 4 caches were in Montgomery County , Maryland. Anyone else in this area?

 

Muggles. Hide your caches better.

Looking at my response today, I see that I could have worded that better, but the point behind it is still true enough. It would appear that either the area has a lot of kids hanging out in it, or either you, or the previous finders, are not (re)hiding your caches well enough to keep them from being spotted by non-cachers. There are spots in my area where I could hide a cache, but won't, because I know that it simply is not going to last.

[+Castle Mischief]

all CO try to get their caches, vandalized, stolen, broken and such..

 

[+hzoi]

One cache in a park is a destructive muggle. Two or more sounds like purposeful vandalism.

 

Check with some of the other MD cachers to see if others are having issues outside of this park. I know some cachers around Kent Island had problems on and off with a cache thief a couple years ago.

[+bflentje]

I just had to disable a cache of mine because a muggle found it 40' up a tree. Climbed up and grabbed it, crapped into it, and left it for dead. At least according to some logs. I suspect that it was actually dog poo and there was not a muggle squatting in the woods. I'll probably let that cache container take a ride to the dump and I'll put out a new one.

[Clan Riffster]

Muggles. Hide your caches better.

I don't think this was a muggle, in the classical sense. (Someone who does not play) Four caches belonging to the OP were located and targeted, along with at least one neighboring cache in the same area. To me, this smells strongly of juveniles who have discovered this game, and decided to "play the game their own way", (an oft lamented bit of advice 'round these parts), which includes theft and profanity.

 

One poorly concealed cache I could see being stolen by a muggle.

 

But 5? These mooks had coords.

[+lamoracke]

Agree, a muggle finds a cache by accident...not 3 in the same park in a triangle and especially if those caches have lasted so long without being missing before. However, the other cache there seems to be fine after 2 months after replacing so hopefully it was just an isolated event.

[+power69]

During the last two months 4 of my geocaches have been vandalized. The first one had 4 letter words scribbled in the log book. No problem. I only needed to tear out a few pages. This one was a good family cache. Trackables were also stolen. The 2nd one was dumped out on the ground and the container, a locknlock was taken. The other 2 were totally taken away. They were in the same park. All 4 caches were in Montgomery County , Maryland. Anyone else in this area?

 

Muggles. Hide your caches better.

I got a better idea. make em PMO then the tweens / teens won't be having fun at your expense without coughing up some cash.

[+Glenn]

During the last two months 4 of my geocaches have been vandalized. The first one had 4 letter words scribbled in the log book. No problem. I only needed to tear out a few pages. This one was a good family cache. Trackables were also stolen. The 2nd one was dumped out on the ground and the container, a locknlock was taken. The other 2 were totally taken away. They were in the same park. All 4 caches were in Montgomery County , Maryland. Anyone else in this area?

 

Muggles. Hide your caches better.

I got a better idea. make em PMO then the tweens / teens won't be having fun at your expense without coughing up some cash.

Nice idea power69. Hocky, If they are indeed teens that are doing it you can also make them mystery caches where they have to learn something to get the coords. As an ex-teen I know that if my teen self had to do anything that was even the tiniest bit like school work I'd quickly find something else to do. Now that I am no longer a teen I find caches like the Patriot series very fun.

[+GeoGeeBee]

During the last two months 4 of my geocaches have been vandalized.

One of mine (GCF690)was vandalized. Someone put something very stinky in the ammo box. It was disgusting.

 

I recently was surprised to see the same park on the news. Someone set a series of fires there, including one that burned the patch of woods where my cache used to be. http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/10688728/

[+Alphadog]

During the last two months 4 of my geocaches have been vandalized.

One of mine (GCF690)was vandalized. Someone put something very stinky in the ammo box. It was disgusting.

 

I recently was surprised to see the same park on the news. Someone set a series of fires there, including one that burned the patch of woods where my cache used to be. http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/10688728/

 

Making them Premium Members Only caches or puzzle caches will usually solve the problem.

[+power69]

During the last two months 4 of my geocaches have been vandalized.

One of mine (GCF690)was vandalized. Someone put something very stinky in the ammo box. It was disgusting.

 

I recently was surprised to see the same park on the news. Someone set a series of fires there, including one that burned the patch of woods where my cache used to be. http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/10688728/

 

Making them Premium Members Only caches or puzzle caches will usually solve the problem.

thats what i do with muggled caches. i'll move it a bit and make it a puzzle. if its an easy puzzle[which most of mine are] i'll make it PMO too.

if a geo maggot wants to work one of my 4 or 5 star puzzles to steal it, more power to them.

[+Fiver1]

I suspect that some of this has to do with smartphones being in the hands of some people. Now that the maps have changed and C Geo is dead in the water as far as GS is concerned, perhaps this will lessen. I personally would like to see geocaching being so restricted that you have to have an actual GPS'r to enjoy the hobby. That would eliminate the majority of these hit and run vandals.

 

Sadly this has happened in my area also over the last couple of years. I can only hope it will fade into history.

[+Isonzo Karst]

I suspect that some of this has to do with smartphones being in the hands of some people.

 

Maybe. The instances of mass disappearance of caches I referenced in my post above all pre-date phone caching. Just FYI.

[+dirt_empire]

I just had to disable a cache of mine because a muggle found it 40' up a tree. Climbed up and grabbed it, crapped into it, and left it for dead. At least according to some logs. I suspect that it was actually dog poo and there was not a muggle squatting in the woods. I'll probably let that cache container take a ride to the dump and I'll put out a new one.

 

Forty feet up a tree??? GC code please?

[+OZ2CPU]

40 ft is nothing :-)

 

see this cache

http://coord.info/GC29J2Y

 

and here is my log

http://coord.info/GL7B9D5Z

 

but I dont think muglers go here to vandalize the cache :-)

it is normal to place it compleetly visible this hi up,

so cachers know what tree to climb and where to go..

ok it is possible to combine hight, with very well hidden !!

but lucky this is not common, I dont think I will enjoy it that much.

 

---

 

> CUT CUT massively-weighted caches is NOT the answer.

 

I think it was kids, who took my very nice and very well painted ammo

it was stuffed with goodies, so what could they think or know..

Now I made it ugly for kids, impossibly to lift or steal by kids,

but very funny for a regular cacher to see this seriously modified ammo,

maybe I should just take a picture of it next time I goto it :-)

so you can see it is very funny,

also I put an old bucked upside down, on the cache,

man are they going to regret it, if they come running and trying to kick it hard :-)

[5Dots]

It seems like there are cache-haters everywhere. They go out of their way to disrupt geocaching. You would think these people would make better use of their time than to vandalize/steal a cache. I don't think it has ever occurred to these people how much it's costing them in time, money, and energy to find and then, dispose/vandalize a cache, not to mention the legal consequences that may result.