After removing a large tent from Mauna Kea earlier this week, state conservation officers were back on the mountain Thursday taking down canopy-style tents that appeared to have been erected by Thirty Meter Telescope opponents.
After removing a large tent from Mauna Kea earlier this week, state conservation officers were back on the mountain Thursday taking down canopy-style tents that appeared to have been erected by Thirty Meter Telescope opponents.
Posts on social media showed the officers removing two tents from the protesters’ former campsite on public land near the Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station. The tents had the words “farmers market Hawaii” and “Aloha Aina is 4-evah” written on them.
A state Department of Land and Natural Resources spokesman said the “pop-up tents” were considered abandoned property since no one there claimed ownership.
Attempts to reach TMT protesters on the mountain through phone and social media messages were unsuccessful.
A TMT opponent said on a Facebook post that they were there meeting lomilomi practitioners from Oahu. It wasn’t clear how long they intended to have the tents there.
Officers removed a much larger tent TMT opponents used to camp on the mountain for nearly six months early Monday morning.