Looting of artifacts from some of the 75 "notable plantation sites" have alarmed staffers of the Virgin Islands National Park. Among items already lost are sugar boiling pots from Maho Bay and an 1824 keystone from the ruins of Rustenberg Mill (http://stjohnbeachguide.com/Rustenberg.htm)
Park archaeologist Ken Wild has announced a plan to encourage volunteers from St. John and St. Thomas to visit the ruins and watch for changes., "We’ll have more photographs and a database so we will know a lot sooner when something goes missing," he told the Virgin Islands Daily News. Similar efforts by volunteer stewards are underway at other parks in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico.
Wild said the V.I. Park is also using Global Satellite Positioning to improve the efficiency of Park rangers making rounds of the sites.