Goderich’s popular inushuks have been vandalized.

Sometime overnight Tuesday, the over 150 inukshuks built by locals and tourists along the Lake Huron shoreline were taken down.

It’s believed the inukshuks were toppled by vandals. There have been a handful of safety complaints about the towering inukshuks so town council had an entire beach safety audit. Because of that, some on social media were accusing the town of taking down the inukshuks overnight.

Mayor Kevin Morrison says nothing could be further from the truth. The town did not order the inukshuks taken down and never had plans of doing so, he says.

 The inukshuks started appearing earlier this summer for no particular reason. Local and tourists simply kept adding on until there were well over 150 structures. \

Already, some residents have started rebuilding the inukshuks.

Kimberley Payne, a Goderich resident, has put out the call for a “rebuilding party” on Sunday from 12 until 3 p.m. She says the inukshuks showed a lot of community spirit and gave the people in town a lot of pride.

Samantha Maxwell was out early Tuesday rebuilding an inukshuk. She says it’s important to show the vandals that, “This won’t stop the community. The community is stronger. You can break it, but it will always come back.”