Yellowknife (Apr 30/03) - Ter Hamer is pointing out all the wrecked and vandalized and missing objects at the Wade Hamer Mini-Golf Course.

A bench is lying upside down broke, graffiti mars a sign, cassette tapes used to play elevator music are broken and strewn around.

This winter, someone broke the door on the storage shed and stole four dozen putters.

Hamer put a new lock on the door, but left the door open so potential thieves would see there's nothing worth stealing.

That didn't stop them. They stole the door lock.

"It's hard to believe," he said. "It's so frustrating."

Hamer said the course has been plagued by vandals since it opened in 1990. The course is owned by the Wade Hamer Foundation, a non-profit organization named after Hamer's late son. The Boy Scouts operate the course.

Whatever profit the course makes every summer is eaten up by repairs. Not that he's out to make money.

"We've never made money, but that's not the intent," he said.

The course is there to provide families and kids with wholesome entertainment for a nominal fee, he said.

Hamer said the vandalism isn't getting worse, but is ongoing.

"There's an enormous amount of vandalism happening," he said.

Hamer would like to see increased policing. "But they claim they don't have the resources," he said.

He also thinks stiffer fines and holding parents responsible could cut down on break and enters and vandalism.

"If a kid comes home with a putter with yellow paint on it, parents might start asking them where it came from."

Sgt. Al McCambridge said the number of vandalism incidents and break and enters spike during the summer months.

Businesses that are closed for the winter also tend to report more property offences at this time of year, he said.

"The snow is now receding so people can access property they may not have been to during the winter months."

RCMP received 24 reports of property damage last weekend, he said.

McCambridge said that number is high, but pointed out the incidents occurred over a weekend.

"They vary from smashed windows to kids throwing rocks," he said.