Acting Senior Sergeant Iain Notman of Dunedin reported that emergency services found the camera on Allanton-Waihola Road, State Highway 1, at 2:40am on Saturday. It had been unbolted, knocked over, and set ablaze.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand extinguished the flames. Firefighters at the scene believed that a short circuit, caused by the camera being toppled, likely started the fire.
“So at this stage, not a suspected arson, but a very expensive wilful damage to some quite new technology,” stated Snr Sgt Notman.
This camera, part of a pair, was intended to measure vehicle speeds over a stretch of road by calculating the time taken between two points.
Investigations into the incident are ongoing.
In a related event late last month, a speed monitoring sign in Waihola was vandalized. It was ripped from its post, snapped, and abandoned by the roadside. Tire marks on the grass suggested a hasty escape.
laine.priestley@odt.co.nz
