Disturbing the rocks and earth on Tubbs Hill may not be against the law, but it is disturbing to those who care for the natural beauty of the hill.

A man was seen digging up grass, moss and dirt and moving large rocks on the hill between markers 26 and 27 by the main entrance near Third Street on several occasions for more than a month now.

Kim Ashbaugh of Coeur d'Alene first spotted the "vandalism" on April 18 and as of Thursday she said it was still occurring on a regular basis. The man recently began leaving behind plastic flowers with miniature items such as a skull and totem pole, which Ashbaugh said she removed Wednesday evening.

"I've seen people pile up a few logs or whatever or go down to the beach and make little breakwaters with rocks, but that's not destroying anything," Ashbaugh said. "But he is tearing everything up. In some places he's dug two-feet-wide holes ... It's kind of a hazard I would think."

She said since Wednesday morning the man had been busy pulling up more moss and grass and exposing some concrete footings that were buried and it looks "more and more tore up."

Coeur d'Alene Police Detective Jared Reneau said digging up rocks and moving them around is not in violation of a specific city ordinance.

"The parks department has the goal of preserving the hill as a natural area, so they don't want people moving those rocks, but it doesn't rise to the level of necessarily breaking the law," Reneau said.

Reneau said since Tubbs Hill is a natural park it is not maintained or improved, but there is no camping or fires allowed. He said a member of the Coeur d'Alene Parks and Recreation Department told him they recently responded to a concern over someone building a fire pit on the hill.

"We do get those calls from time to time where someone is trying to erect a tent and stay up there," Reneau said. "When we are notified that someone is trying to camp on the hill we go up and make sure they are fully aware that they're in violation of the city ordinance."

The parks department pushed the rocks around to "fix" it, but Ashbaugh said the damage done can't be fixed so easily.

The Coeur d'Alene City Ordinance under Title 4, Park and Public Property Regulations, states that it is "unlawful for any person to willingly damage, mutilate or destroy any bench, trash can, playground equipment, tree, shrub or any other improvement or fixture on any city owned, leased or maintained beach, natural area, park, playground or play field."

In other cities around the country, such as New York City, park rules strictly prohibit the destruction of any trees, plants, shrubs, grass or any other vegetation. Ashbaugh said, at the very least, she would like to see some small signs go up on Tubbs Hill telling visitors to "take only pictures, leave only footprints."

Ashbaugh can see Tubbs Hill from her front window, and her passion for keeping it in a natural state is evident. She attempts to keep the hill clean of trash, but said in the summer it is nearly impossible.

"In the summer I get a little embarrassed when I see so much trash," she said. "I meet people from all over the world — Australia, Poland, New Zealand, Spain — so I want it to look nice."