A Wellington City Library patron has taken Wanganui's "H" debate into his own hands.
The mysterious would-be editor has unleashed his pen on display copies of the Wanganui Chronicle, crossing out any "H" included in the city's name.
Occasionally, correct spellings are circled and ticked and a recent story about Christmas in
prison had "Good Job" scrawled over it.
They are nothing if not persistent - the marking has been ongoing for most of 2008, although it has shown signs of petering out in the past few months.
Library collections manager John Stears said library staff were unaware of the editing until the Chronicle brought it to their attention yesterday.
The library holds copies of about 30 papers from across New Zealand, which are available for the public to read. Vandalism is frowned upon, and Mr Stears said staff had no idea who was responsible for the crosses in the Chronicle.
"Because the papers are on public display it's very hard to keep an eye out for this sort of thing," he said.
"We certainly don't encourage these things but it's very hard to prevent them happening."
He said there was not much staff could do unless they caught the perpetrator in the act.
The Chronicle will remain on display, he said.
The Chronicle reported yesterday that Te Runanga o Tupoho's application to change Wanganui's name to Whanganui continues, and could be heard by the New Zealand Geographic Board by the end of next month.
