Support is pouring in from all over the country for Greymouth residents outraged by the removal of a treasured memorial in the town.
The war memorial was built to commemorate those who died in World War I and has been a focal point for Greymouth Anzac Day parades since the 1920s.
It has now been four days since it was removed. The four pillar structure was found in a yard near Hokitika on Monday night after being ripped from an old school yard in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The columns formed the front gates of the former Grey Main school which is now owned by the local Maori landowner and development company, Mawhera Incorporation.
The land has been earmarked for a shopping centre development.
Greymouth Mayor Tony Kokshoorn believes the Mawhera Incorporation cleared the 86-year-old structure to make way for the planned complex - and he says the group has a moral responsibility to restore the tribute.
"It was just an arrogant act for them to just uplift these and move them overnight in a dawn raid in the way they did," he says.
The pillars disappeared as moves were underway to protect them, and one has reportedly been damaged in the shift.
"(It's) desecration of war memorial which was erected by people as a sacred site. How low could you go," says Historic Places Trust spokesperson Bob Smithem.
Neither Mawhera Incorporation, nor its chairman Maika Mason, have been available for comment. ONE News has been told that Mason is on holiday and out of cellphone range.
However, anger in Greymouth is not abating. The move has stunned locals like Margaret Gilman who lost two uncles in the war.
"I was very, very, very cross, and very, very irate, and thinking what a useless thing for anyone to do".
Some are calling for blood.
"When the tornado came through, a lot of the land and buildings are owned by the Mawhera Incorporation, and a lot of Greymouth volunteers went out of their way to help. Now, how could he (Maika Mason) do this to us. We've done so much for him in this town," says former Grey Main pupil Mark Costello.
Some Mawhera shareholders are distancing themselves from the act and say they are disappointed and worried that there will be a backlash.
The action has come as a warning to all local authorities.
Grey District Council and the RSA had been looking at other sites for the pillars, but RSA spokesperson Rick Cairney says there is a push to get them back.
"They belong to the people of Greymouth, they were probably built with donations made by the people of Greymouth, so therefore they should be returned."
The focus is now to somehow get the gates back to
Greymouth.
