By Kristen Consillio
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KANEOHE, Hawaii (KITV) — Despite being illegal, a new video shows people not only hiking the Stairway to Heaven, but throwing a metal railing off the side of a cliff.
“When I see this kind of action, it’s really disturbing,” said Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi. “We’ve already had enough death lately over ridiculous accidents that should’ve never occurred. We don’t want anything else like this to happen.”
The video is adding fuel to the fire after city officials repeatedly warned people not to use the deteriorating Haiku Stairs for their safety.
“I’m concerned and I’m angry with people doing that kind of vandalism and I’m also frustrated,” he said.
The city’s attempts to remove the structure was blocked last year after the Friends of Haiku Stairs filed a lawsuit to protect the World War II-era monument.
This is one of the ways to get to the Haiku Stairs in Moanalua Valley and despite all of these signs warning people about the dangers of the stairs, many hikers are still blatantly defying the law.
“What I’ve seen is really disappointing. Those are not hikers, those are vandals,” said Justin Scorza of the Friends of Haiku Stairs.
And it’s not helping the cause.
“Our organization has been fighting to preserve the stairway and the access to this mountain for everybody to engage in good behavior and recreation, not to damage public property or endanger the lives of others.”
Before the court case, the mayor’s crackdown resulted in citations and enforcement of illegal hikers. But the court delay is costing the city in overtime and manpower.
“The courts created really unnecessary big costs that we didn’t plan on just to provide security,” Blangiardi said.
And the mayor hopes people will wise up.
“You put your own life at risk going up there,” he said. “I know it’s beautiful. We’re not trying to take anything away from anybody, but the safety of this is of paramount importance.”
HPD said the hikers could be subject to trespassing and criminal property damage offenses.
Honolulu police arrested seven people and issued three citations for trespassing in December and earlier this month, two hikers were arrested.
They could face up to $1,000 fine and 30 days in prison.
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