Offensive words and pornographic images were carved and dug into several of the Fredericton Golf Club's greens with mustard and ketchup this summer, provoking the club to install cameras around the course.

General manager Alan Howie said that from time to time, the club has experienced the theft of flagpoles and damage by bicycles ridden on the greens, but nothing like this.

"I've been here 15, 16 years now and it's probably the worst I've seen," Howie said of the vandalism.

The acidic vinegar in mustard and ketchup wrecks the grass.

Started with 3 greens

"We wash it off, but it still eats right into the grass and damages the green," Howie said.

Members of the grounds crew first saw the vandal's work when they arrived at 5:30 a.m. one day in late July. The vandal, or vandals, struck, had targeted the eighth, 12th and 16th greens. The last vandalism occurred later in August, on greens 12 and 16, this time with the help of a knife.

Howie was disheartened that people would destroy the greens in such a vulgar manner.

"Destroying other people's property, whether it's here at a golf course or your yard, wherever, destroying someone else's property is just so wrong."

Howie has no idea who the vandal is or if there's more than one.

Alan Howie, the general manager for the Fredericton Golf Club, said he has no idea who would vandalize the Fredericton Golf Club's greens. (Submitted by Alan Howie)

"Your quick thought is is it kids who are playing around in the area that are bored?"

He said the club installed seven cameras around the more than 100-acre course to try to identify the culprits.

Howie said it cost the club more than $1,000 to fix the damaged grass and install the cameras.

Wants to have proof

The club hasn't reported the incident to police yet. Howie said he's hoping to catch the vandals on camera if they strike again. That way, he'll have photos of the vandals to show police.

Staff at the club have fixed the damaged area, and now they're asking members to be on the lookout for "suspicious individuals on or around the golf course."

"My thinking is if they try it again they're going to get caught," Howie said.