A picnic table once again graces Bennetts Hill near Masterton - this time reinforced with steel.
Wayne Fleming, member of Masterton Host Waipoua Lions Club, said the disappearance of the table last month had prompted Carterton firm Tower Gates to donate a 2-inch thick steel framework for a replacement.
He said the Farmlands company threw in lengths of timber for the table top and two Masterton farmers donated concrete for the reconstruction, which Lions members carried out at the site last week.
The table was destroyed in November when vandals chainsawed through the solid wood table top.
It was worth about $2500 and had been installed when an original table, valued at about the same amount, was stolen about two-and-a-half years earlier.
The original table was bolted down and had vanished about six months after the Lions built it, he said.
The club had replaced the original table, also with help from local businesses, and had reinforced it with steel and bolted it to the concrete pad.
Mr Fleming said the new table was worth more than $1200 and should prove an even greater challenge for any would-be vandals or thieves, especially with a steel mesh that has been fashioned under the table to protect the wood from chainsaw attacks.
"It's such a popular spot. I've seen people taking their own little tables up there to eat and enjoy the views after the last table was hit. And we took so many calls about it, we decided not to let anybody get the better of us," Mr Fleming said.
"Now there's a table made out of two-inch steel and 6 by 2 pine, so any vandals or thieves will at least have to think twice before they do it again."