Police are looking for a man after a teenage girl was assault at the summit of Mauao.

Police said in a statement yesterday the girl was assaulted by a man about 1pm on Thursday.

A police spokeswoman said the girl was able to run away and sustained minor injuries.

"No instances similar to this have been reported to police," she said.

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The man was described as European, between 50 to 60 years old, of medium build, about 1.8m tall, bald on the top of his head with grey hair around the sides and back of his head.

The man was also described as wearing a navy blue T-shirt with white patches on it, black sunglasses, and dark coloured ¾ shorts.

Police said they believe he left the area in a vehicle after the assault and were appealing for information to identify the man and his vehicle.

The spokeswoman said a number of people had already made contact with information.

Tourism Bay of Plenty head of marketing Kathrin Low said they were sorry to hear of the assault.

Safety and the comfort of knowing Tauranga's natural attractions were easily accessible was important.

"Infrequent occurrences such as this hopefully won't impact the destinations reputation."

Mount Mainstreet manager Ingrid Fleming said it was a very unusual thing to happen given the large number of people that go up and down every day.

Anyone who has information about this incident is asked to contact the Tauranga police on (07) 5774300. Alternatively, information can be provided anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.