Mintaro Maze chemically sprayed for second time as owners plead for justice

The owners of the Mintaro maze, which attracts thousands of tourists every year, say it’s been twice sprayed with poison – with CCTV catching a person.

Owners of the famous Mintaro Maze are hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket after a slew of attacks on the tourist attraction.

On two separate occasions the maze – which attracts thousands of tourists each year to Mintaro in the Clare Valley – has been sprayed with poisonous chemicals causing an estimated $120,000 in damages.

The first attack in 2018 forced the owners to replace parts of the maze on Jacka Rd with metal partitions.

The latest attack, on the western edge of the maze, was the last straw, according to co-owner and maze Sharon Morris, leaving her with no other choice than to go public with their battle.

Sharon Morris, manager of the Mintaro Maze. Picture: Jason Katsaras

After the first attack workers noticed almost a third of the hedges die off suddenly. An arborist later confirmed the maze walls had been poisoned.

Run-off from the attack flowed into a nearby creek, killing all native grasses.

The family was forced to replace part of the maze with fabricated sheet metal artwork due to the long-lasting poison.

“I don't know why someone would ever do this, it's just pure vandalism, you can’t understand why,” Ms Morris said.

“Over at Belair National Park I’ve heard they had a similar issue with vandals destroying the old maze as quickly as volunteers were trying to restore it.”

The metal section of the Mintaro Maze, built to replace the hedges poisoned in 2018, which could not be regrown. Picture: Jason Katsaras

Ms Morris said the attraction has had to evolve to face the challenges thrust upon them in 2018.

“We’ve been able to include the new metal section as part of the games we play here to move on from that attack – we thought 2018 was an isolated incident.”

Ms Morris said in February, security cameras captured a person spraying poison along the western verge of the maze along Jacka Rd, killing a number of bushes along the road.

On top of this, slate from the walls of the property was stolen during the holiday period.

The Jacka Rd side of the maze which was sprayed with poison. Picture: Jason Katsaras

“We’ve had a very busy few months post-COVID, we don’t want people to think we’re in any way worse off, we just want it to stop.” Ms Morris.

“Words cannot express the disappointment we feel – we simply cannot believe it has come to this.

“For the sake of our employees, our family and the visitors to our beautiful town, we must ask you as our community for help.”

Originally planted in 1995 by the Morris family, the maze has become a huge tourist attraction in the region with the site being sought after for weddings and functions.

A spokesperson from the Clare police said that they couldn’t comment on an ongoing matter, but the vandalism was being investigated.