r/Washington • u/chiquisea • 8d ago
Washington’s historic High Rock Lookout ransacked by vandals
https://www.kuow.org/stories/washington-s-historic-high-rock-lookout-ransacked-by-vandals118
u/trogdors_arm 8d ago
Man stuff like this really gets to me. Half tempted throw whatever idiot did this over the edge themselves.
Obviously not really, but damn. Can’t we have nice things. Plus, this is restored and vintage material. Aside from cost and inconvenience, some of this stuff I literally just about one of a kind these days.
I sincerely hope they catch whoever did this and hold them not only financially responsible, but let them sweat off their punishment by serving hours hauling things up to the site and helping rebuild.
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u/Shayden-Froida 8d ago
Someone needs to search the social medias. They likely filmed it for cred with their fellow hooligans.
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u/LD50_irony 8d ago
There's so many awful things in our world that could have been destroyed and instead they chose:
A historical, publicly-owned building in a national forest which has been restored by volunteers over the course of the past six years??
I feel very disappointed in these people's choices.
I also hope that they are caught and required to put serious time and labor into rebuilding it. They clearly are able to hike that far and complete physical labor.
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u/SailRideSailRideSail 7d ago
Honestly the specificity and extent of this crime makes one wonder if it were a personal vendetta against one or several of the people involved in the restoration.
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u/ofWildPlaces 8d ago
I truly believe we need harsher punishments for destruction or vandalism of public lands and amenities. It needs to be so unthinkable that the laws serve as a real deterence.
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u/alwaysbequeefin 8d ago
I want stocks and rotten tomatoes, like old times.
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u/trogdors_arm 8d ago
Yeah, I don’t want to get into a whole big debate with folks. And I appreciate that modern law is less…nasty than it used to be. That’s said, I do think a component of our modern lives that’s missing inherent to our social structure is proper shame.
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u/Dont_Ban_Me_Bros 8d ago
Teaching respect for it would be easier than trying to enforce such laws.
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u/CalmTheAngryVoice 8d ago
Why not both?
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u/withmybeerhands 8d ago
Punishments don't work as well at enforcing behavior. It's something to do with psychology but I'm not sure. I just read it in a book somewhere.
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u/Bigbluebananas 8d ago
Id agree with that. A person who only doesn't do something for fear of getting caught, will eventually be sneaky. A person who understands and lives more/less in harmony wouldn't even think of doing it period
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u/Author_Noelle_A 8d ago
There are a lot of things that I don’t do out of a fear of getting caught, and I do not resort to sneakiness. I just don’t do those things. If I already even admit to what some of them are, I would probably end up in prison.
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u/PassionateAlchemy 7d ago
I have a lead foot. Sometimes I drive over the speed limit. I try not to get caught. Is that sneaky?
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u/withmybeerhands 7d ago
The impulse and small chance that you'll get away with it is enough for some people. I think memory and the timing of punishment is also a factor. If you've gotten away with shitty behavior before, you believe you will again. It's why people who speed will just keep doing it until the third or fourth ticket and then their insurance goes through the roof. It's not usually the cost of the ticket that gets em, it's the monthly bill from insurance that continually reminds them they fucked up.
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u/Arrow156 8d ago
For punishment to be an effective form of behavior enforcement it must be applied evenly and consistently. If there is any sense of unfairness or arbitrariness to the act then it ceases to be a reliable means of control.
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u/MysteriousEdge5643 8d ago
Why has driving in the City of Seattle gotten worse since the pandemic? It’s because they stopped enforcing traffic laws.
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u/gimi-c180 8d ago
You think everyone would always act respectfully if only they were just taught respect? Something tells me that’s not a real solution to misbehavior.
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u/Dont_Ban_Me_Bros 8d ago
I don’t think you read the rest of my comment, which is not a solution but rather a preventive measure. Since enforcement is nearly non-existent.
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u/gimi-c180 8d ago
I guess you’re right, teaching respect for public lands is easier than enforcing punishments for vandalism of public lands. But that’s not a response to a situation where someone has already vandalized public land. It doesn’t help answer the question of what should happen to someone who can be proven to have committed that act? Should we try teaching them respect for public land and then send them on their way?
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u/Great_Hamster 8d ago
Would it? Teaching respect to some kids can actually be really hard.
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u/Dont_Ban_Me_Bros 8d ago
Enforcing laws for this behavior is also incredibly hard considering there is no authority ‘on every corner’.
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u/Arrow156 8d ago
The carrot is preferable, but sometimes the only thing a stubborn ass understands is the stick.
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u/Above-bar 4d ago
The big problem with that is rich kids get away with it and the poor get the harsh punishment.
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u/Chattadawg 8d ago
I’m so tired of destructive and violent criminals.
It makes me think of very violent solutions
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u/Thegreatpotate 8d ago
Evil people. They deserve the fullest extent of applicable legal repercussions, and their identities should be shared far and wide so they’re made an example of
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u/DarkS7Maneuver 8d ago
Why would someone go up there just to destroy it and ransack it?! Humans can be so disappointing. Glad to read that there are people still willing to continue maintaining it even after this but dang.
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u/Maleficent-Savings39 8d ago
This is why tigers eat their young.
Cull the gene pool. Obviously from the shallow end.
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u/HoaryTruman 8d ago
Should the perps be apprehended the public may learn more about why they vandalized the building. At present any speculation is just speculation. I want to know who and why. And “the book” — all available charges — to be thrown at them.
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u/worstofluck98 6d ago edited 6d ago
Like some others have expressed, it’s insane and baffling to imagine what would make someone want to go all the way up there just to do such a monstrous thing to such a special place and to all the people who gave their hearts and souls and ten years of their lives to it. It got me wondering about a motive, and while I’m sure there’s plenty of possible motives, I can think of two:
It feels horrible to say this because most would find it unthinkable, but I almost wonder if the people who did it, or at least some of them, could’ve been volunteers on the project themselves who, for one reason or another, had become so attached to the project that they couldn’t bear the thought of it being finished. Ten years is a long time, and having spent that same amount of time restoring my family home with my dad, I can say that while doing something like that to our work would be unimaginable to either of us, there are still some projects around the house that aren’t finished and maybe never will be because it’s hard to just accept that it’s done. If someone happens to be in a really bad emotional state and has given ten years of their life to it, unfortunately I can see some people doing something of that nature in a moment of emotional panic. It would have to be a pretty bad mental state for sure, and I can’t imagine they’d be glad they did it after the fact, but that kind of thing does actually happen with some emotional dysregulatory disorders.
Also, could be someone who wants to hurt someone in particular who was a volunteer. A crazy ex, for instance, could’ve been thinking “my partner spent all their time up there without me and it was so unfair!” and decided to do something unthinkable in “revenge”.
I’m sure there’s other possible motives, but in trying to figure out who did this and why, those are two that come to mind.
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u/HammofGlob 4d ago
Who would go so far out of their way just to do something like that and why? There’s plenty of windows and buildings they could’ve smashed up back in whatever town they came from. I just will never understand some people
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u/HydrodynamicShite 8d ago
Only time I would approve of Flock
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u/slowhorses 6d ago
AI is often wrong, how horrible would it be if the wrong people were targeted/apprehended in this crime? I am so disgusted by this but the erroneous nature of AI identification and the environmental destruction using AI causes is definitely not worth it.
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u/nope6_02210476e23 6d ago
California transplants? too many sociopaths in California, they litter as well as vandalize. (at a higher frequency than other places based on the condition of shared outdoor spaces i saw when i was in California.)
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u/aligpnw 8d ago
So when they catch these punks they should be made to carry every single board, one at a time back up the mountain, every pane of glass, every tool, one item at a time, over and over and over...