Rock climbing pranksters have securely fastened a shopping trolley to a cliff face on Western Australia's south coast, the latest in a series of similarly brazen stunts involving the carts appearing in strange places.

Pranksters left a shopping trolley on a rocky ledge at The Gap. ( Supplied: Reddit )

Volunteers at the local State Emergency Services responded to an incident Monday night following reports of a shopping trolley spotted on a cliff face at The Gap, an iconic tourist site.



When the team arrived, they found the trolley perched on a rocky ledge 25 metres above surging waves.

"The ledge it was on, you would need climbing equipment to get down there," Albany SES local manager Nigel de Snoo said.

"They would have had to descend, get to the ledge, attach the trolley and then get themselves out of there."

When the SES volunteers descended to the ledge to remove the trolley they found it bound to the rock with climbing anchors and cable ties.

"Whoever put it there intended for it not to get washed into the water," Mr de Snoo said.

"Quite a bit of effort had gone into this prank. They would have had equipment and certainly some planning involved to get it to where it was".

Photos of the trolley first appeared on social media, the latest in a series of similar stunts that has seen a cart placed on a floating sea barge at the popular Middleton Beach and a couch appear on top of Albany's iconic Dog Rock.

Albany residents are wondering how and why shopping trolleys are appearing in strange places. ( Supplied: Facebook )

"Quite dangerous, this is on a whole other level. Any slip would see you at the bottom of the water at The Gap and chances of survival there are slim to none," Mr de Snoo said.

"We removed it at night, at a time when the swell was around 2 metres. As we were leaving the rock ledge, the swell picked up enough to wash over it.

"There was no risk to our guys beyond what we're regularly used to. (But) to put us at risk for the sake of someone's giggle its just not needed".

Albany Police Senior Sergeant Grant Pollard said the station had not received any formal reports about the stunts, including the most recent staging of a shopping trolley at The Gap.

"It is certainly a nuisance and a possible danger to the public, but it is not clear whether a criminal offence has been committed," he said.

"Shopping trolleys remain the property of the supermarket, so it wouldn't necessarily be considered stealing".

Sen Sgt Pollard said a general trend among the public to post on social media rather than report possible criminal activity made it difficult for police to investigate.

"We haven't received any reports about these incidents," he said.

Pranksters place a couch on top of Albany's iconic Dog Rock. ( ABC Great Southern: Christine Layton )

Albany residents have speculated how the shopping trolley came to be at The Gap, with some residents taking a light hearted view of the matter.

But the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions said penalties may apply for the shopping trolley left at The Gap, including for dumping waste in a national park which carries a penalty of $2,000.

"A really dumb stunt, to be quite honest," DBCA Albany district manager Peter Hartley said.

"The Gap being an iconic tourist destination, we couldn't just leave it there because it would be an eye sore, and it detracts from the sense of place.

"We are very interested to find out who was involved and are following a number of lines of inquiry."