In 2006, there was a break-in at Crystal Cave (the show cave in Yanchep National Park) and a number of the speleothems were broken or removed. Norm Poulter of SRGWA carefully mapped where the various broken parts were found before they were gathered up.
Acting on information received, the police retrieved the stolen stals and charged the culprit. Two years or more of legal wrangling followed, in the course of which the caving clubs were asked to place a monetary value on the damaged formations. Despite the impossible nature of this request, we did our best to provide appropriate information.
Eventually, the vandal received a 200-hour community work order – a disappointing result from a caver’s perspective.
Only then were the cavers free to attempt some rectification of the damage. Norm Poulter organised the first part of the job, and Ian Collette of WASG took over the work when Norm moved to Tasmania.
