The Nīkau Table by Josh Lancaster at Haumoana has had its nīkau palm chopped off by a vandal. Photo / Jack Riddell
The Nīkau Table by Josh Lancaster at Haumoana has had its nīkau palm chopped off by a vandal. Photo / Jack Riddell
A nīkau tree at the heart of an outdoor artwork overlooking Cape Kidnappers has been chopped down in an act of vandalism.
Sitting along the coastal cycleway in Haumoana, Hawke’s Bay, is “The Nīkau Table” – a table made of river stone encased in metal and wood that originally had a nīkau palm growing through the middle of it like an umbrella providing shade.
However, a vandal has cut the nīkau in half, leaving only a portion of the trunk sticking through the table.
The Nīkau Table overlooks Cape Kidnappers in Haumoana and is now without a nīkau palm after a vandal chopped it down. Photo / Jack Riddell
Designed by Hawke’s Bay artist Josh Lancaster, the idea behind the artwork was to make a place where “people and nature can come together and co-exist harmoniously”.
“So the chopping down of the nīkau element of it sort of defeats that really,” Lancaster said.
“I don’t know what anyone’s motivation would be to chop it down.”
The artwork was funded by Wattie’s as part of its “Connection Table” campaign in 2023, where artists around the country designed a table where people could sit down and connect with friends and whānau over a meal.
A spokesperson from Hastings District Council, which Lancaster said was the custodian of the palm tree, said the nīkau was cut in “an act of vandalism” on Thursday May 8 and they were working on a solution with Wattie’s and Lancaster.
Hawke's Bay artist Josh Lancaster at the opening ceremony of The Nīkau Table in Haumoana in 2023. Photo / Paul Taylor
Lancaster said he wasn’t sad for himself or the artwork. It’s the community he feels bad for.
“What I loved about the project was that it was something the community could use,” he said.
“Every time I’ve gone out there there’s always a family out there eating fish and chips or an older couple with their friends stopping for a break on their bike trip.
“Without the nīkau it’s just a table, which I am sure would have just as much use - it hasn’t stopped people using it but yeah, it would be great to see it reinstated how it is supposed to be.”
Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and spent the last 15 years working in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin, and Napier. He reports on all stories relevant to residents of the region.
