MAN CAUGHT FOR DESTROYING MOUNTAIN ROCKS

[Anchor Lead]

Police have detained a man who allegedly vandalized rocks on mountaintops and cut safety ropes. The suspect says he did that out of anger and stress.

[Pkg]

This is Aegibong Peak of Buramsan Mountain stretching from Namyangju, Gyeonggi-do Province, to Nowon-gu District in Seoul. Only traces of a rock that used to stand on the mountaintop are left now. The rock was found later on a mountain slope. There are clear signs that someone pushed it down deliberately. Police have launched an investigation and detained a suspect in his 20s based on witnesses' testimonies. The man is suspected of having pushed down five mountain rocks using a steel lever since December 2021. Those include rocks from several Mt. Suraksan peaks. Early this year he also cut six safety ropes on the same mountain with a handsaw. He visited Mt. Suraksan over several days during less crowded hours to separate a rock on Jubong Peak from a cliff using a pickaxe.

[Soundbite] (Namyangju City Hall official) : "There were only pieces of concrete left. The rock was deliberately damaged with a hammer or something like that."

The suspect told police he vandalized mountain rocks out of anger at hikers who claimed to have erected the rocks and out of stress he received working a part-time job. Most of the damaged rocks were erected by the members of alpine clubs. Four out of the five rocks were found near their original locations, but only one of them has been returned to its position because moving them around is difficult due to their enormous weight. The rock from Jubong Peak of Mt. Suraksan will be made anew by Namyangju City Hall and erected in July. Police have indicted the suspect on the charge of property damage and they are analyzing his mobile phone to find out if he has committed any more acts of vandalism.