Jul. Margy Benson was shocked last week as she stood on her condo lanai, admiring Diamond Head.It appeared that graffiti was written on the side the crater.Benson stated, "I saw some illegal hikers and got out my binoculars and checked if they were okay. And I saw this bare spot high up on the slopes which looked like it had lettering. So I'm asking my eyes, 'Are your eyes seeing that correctly?'She said that the letters appeared to spell Trump.Benson, who lives in Diamond Head Hillside condos on the corner of Campbell Avenue and Monsarrat avenues, said that "it was more about I was shocked to witness it on Diamond Head."After carefully studying the letters, Benson realized that they were not painted on the surface of the crater, as she initially thought. Instead, the banner was attached to the site.Alison Kwok from Honolulu, who is a frequent visitor to this area, stated that the lettering was pointed to her by a passerby mid-June.Kwok stated that a woman who was walking her dog approached me and said, "I don't know what your politics are. Nobody should deface a sacred site." "Vandalism should not be allowed."Jan Nilsson of Waikiki, a friend and neighbor of Benson's said that she could see the banner or clearing with her naked eyes from her apartment on Kuhio Avenue, near Jefferson Elementary School. She could also read the letters using binoculars.Richard Rountree was Benson's neighbor in his penthouse. He said that he'd seen many man-made improvements, from roads and fencing, to electric poles on the crater slopes over the 25 years he'd lived there. But, "there shouldn’t be anybody’s name up thereit’s a beautiful volcano, and I would prefer it be free of politics."The Honolulu Star-Advertiser asked Dan Dennison about his state Department of Land and Natural Resources. He replied via email that it was the first time he had heard of the Leahi letters.Continue the storyA resident provided a photo and he confirmed that the lettering was located on Board of Water Supply land. He said it was "very steep and difficult to access."Nevertheless, officers from the DLNR's Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement and Division of State Parks travelled to the crater on Friday morning.Edward Thompson, DOCARE Officer, first spotted the banner just off Monsarrat Avenue. He then hiked along Monsarrat Avenue's rim to find it before dropping to the edge to look for it. According to a press release from DLNR Friday, the banner was located about 50 feet below the crater rim. It was attached to rocks by screws and hooks to attach to trees and rocks.Its message was "Trump 2021."Thompson stated that "Whomever put up this 'Trump 2021’ banner went to a lot trouble and could have gotten into serious trouble," he said. He also mentioned that hiking on the Diamond Head State Monument's rim or any other designated trail is forbidden.Thompson said that if they had caught them, they could have been cited as defacing public property and for entering a restricted area.Curt Cottrell, State Parks Administrator, stated that "No matter what your political leanings are, putting banners or signs up on public land is not acceptable and lawful."Cottrell stated that, in addition, "given Le'ahi's cultural and natural importance, it is certainly not the place to make political statements or put up signs."
