Lake Hayes A&P Show organisers came up with a money-making scheme through wood-chopping leftovers, but someone had other ideas.
The organisers had always had wood chopping on the agenda of the show and decided this year to sell off all the wood left over after Saturday’s show.
But come yesterday morning all the wood had disappeared from where it lay.
Show event manager Ann Wyatt said up until this year the wood had not been used for anything and what exactly happened to it was unclear.
But this year it was decided to sell it off and hopefully make some money to cover expenses for next year’s show, she said. It had been sold for $350 on Saturday.
But the wood was not to be seen yesterday morning as the organisers carried out their cleanup.
Ms Wyatt said it was disappointing it had been taken, and she hoped it might have been a misunderstanding.
Perhaps someone had just taken the wood every year without asking and had done that again this year, without knowing it had been sold, she said.
If that was the case, show organisers would happily take the wood back.
The wood was bone dry, specially treated for wood chopping and would be in hot demand to survive a Queenstown winter, she said.
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