Bullet Basin, the gun range on Camozzi Rd. in Revelstoke, is closed until further notice after vandals on Wednesday evening or Thursday morning spread rotten, ground up chicken meat all over the range.
The meat is spread on the shooting benches, the flooring and on the seats for the shooting benches.
"Somebody took the time to make sure the meat was rotten and smelled really bad, and just smeared it where ever they could." Said Jennifer Bowden, the director of the Revelstoke Rod and Gun club, which runs the range.
"The odour's too strong to be able to just go in there and sweep it up," she said.
The club will hire a cleaning company to get rid of the meat and smell.
Bowden said RCMP have been called and are investigating the vandalism. Two RCMP officers were present at the gun range Thur. afternoon. StokeFM put in a call to the Revelstoke detachment but no one was available to talk.
Bowden doesn't know why someone would target the club. Maybe it's someone who doesn't like hunting and fishing, she said, or maybe it's political and has to do with the upcoming municipal election.
The club has been in the process of moving the range from the Arrow Heights neighbourhood to a property on Westside Rd.
"For years," Bowden said.
She doesn't think the vandalism has to do with any tension between residents of the neighbourhood and the club.
"I don't see somebody using vandalism to get a message across for that when it's so close to being complete," she said.
Bowden says the club wants to have a good place in the community. She wants to know if anyone has an issue with them.
One of the problems with this vandalism, Bowden says, is "we have literally no idea what the message is."
"It would just be a lot easier for everyone involved to just come forward and communicate your thoughts."
Bowden is disappointed by the vandalism. She said the club's executive members all volunteer to do things like run programs, maintain the range and put together targets.
"It's completely unfair for somebody to do something like this when the whole thing is run by volunteers," she said.
Listen to the story below: