Eggs laid by a pair of endangered curlews in northern New South Wales have been broken, upsetting locals and setting back repopulation efforts.

The shells of the bush stone-curlew egg were found in a carpark at Salt Village in Kingscliff on the Tweed Shire Coast.

Locals who had been keeping a close eye on the nesting birds were devastated by the discovery.

Resident Michelle Phillips found the fractured eggs a distance from the nest.

Ms Phillips said she had been looking after the curlews in the nesting area for the past nine years.

"Because of development in the area, the birds are running out of places to go to be safe," she said in a statement.

"We need people to stay away from them and not interfere with them."

Under the New South Wales National Parks Act anyone caught harming an endangered species faces a $220,000 fine and two years in prison.

The Tweed Shire Council's Jane Lofthouse said the curlews only had one to two hatchlings per year.

"It is important that we maintain the areas where they are nesting," she said.

"Any losses that we have are really quite a blow, particularly when the eggs were so close to hatching."

Ms Lofthouse has praised the ongoing community efforts to protect the vulnerable birds.

"All we can do is continue to raise awareness and ask people to stay away from nesting bush stone-curlews," she said.

Anyone who has information about the damage to the eggs is urged to contact the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service.