It's just not cricket: Kapiti College pitch vandalised

Sand dumped on a cricket pitch at Kapiti College has the frustrated school wishing it was over.

A strange form of vandalism has taken place multiple times on the Kapiti College cricket pitch, north of Wellington.

Striking in the middle of the night, sand and shells likely taken from the beach have been dumped on the wicket area.

"It's very strange, we have no idea why," Kapiti College principal Tony Kane said.

"Time and effort goes into making the pitch a safe surface for our students to play on so for someone to try to sabotage it is disappointing."

The vandalism is believed to be a deliberate act of vandalism as the sand has been dumped only on the wicket area.

On last count the vandal had attacked six times since November last year frustrating property manager Paul Cooper.

"It's definitely a deliberate act," he said.

"Someone has been walking out with a bag or a bucket and dumping the sand there."

While it might not seem like a big deal, every time it happens Paul has to clean it up, taking time out of his other activities.

"I takes a couple of hours out of my day every time.

"I have to wait until it's dry each time and then sweep it up by hand in order to get it ready for the next week's game.

"We're thinking about getting security cameras but as it's a big pitch and has been happening at night they won't pick up much."

The teams don't train on the pitch during the week which makes it frustrating for Paul as his efforts to keep the pitch in good playing condition are constantly being thwarted.

If anyone has any information that can help identify the person responsible Paul can be contacted at Kapiti College, any information given will be confidential.