The deliberate scattering of over 800 barbed metal tacks last week in Edinburgh Gardens, in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy North, has been described by Yarra City Mayor Phillip Vlahogiannis as a senseless criminal act intended to cause injury.
The spikes, made seemingly from twisted chicken wire, were found by a member of the public who alerted the local council. Police are investigating the incident.
Mayor Vlahogiannis warned park users to be careful following work undertaken by council park crews to remove the tacks.
“They’re the sort of things that if you throw them, no matter how they land there’s always going to be a spike (pointing) in the air,” he told reporters,
“It’s not like they can lie flat and not be dangerous.
“It’s malicious, it’s senseless, it’s intended to cause injury, you don’t put things like that in a park for any other reason.”
At 24 hectares (59 acres) the gardens make up one of Melbourne’s largest parks in the inner city. The tacks had been dropped on grassed areas and around trees.
In a statement provided to Neos Kosmos Mayor Vlahogiannis said the council was working closely with police to help them find whoever is responsible for this “malicious and cowardly act”.
“In the meantime we strongly advise people who are walking, jogging, enjoying the playground with their children and exercising pets to be extra careful.
“Cyclists and people using wheelchairs and motorised scooter also need to be aware that some tacks may have ended up on the paths.”
The mayor said he urged the community to report any suspicious behaviour or information about who might have laid the tacks to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Park users who find any remaining tacks are asked to report their specific location to the council by calling 9205 5555.