Even if your property is completely empty, it doesn’t mean that others are welcome to use it as they please; and it definitely does not mean they can use it for shortcuts or forming roads wherever they feel like.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to this redditor. When she and her partner would go spend time on a piece of land they own, they would see tire marks “decorating” the property. The mysterious driver’s actions pushed them to get petty revenge, which you can find described in the text below.

Below you will also find Bored Panda’s interview with the owner of said property, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions.

Driving through someone else’s property without permission is never a good idea

Image credits: Adam Sage / pexels (not the actual photo)

This woman would constantly see someone’s tire marks running through her property

Image credits: Erik Mclean / pexels (not the actual photo)

Image source: House-Plant_

Quite a few landowners have to deal with the damages caused by trespassers

Image credits: Gary Barnes / pexels (not the actual photo)

Some people feel that entering someone else’s property without permission is no big deal. “I’ll just walk here real quick,” they think to themselves, as they stomp over someone’s newly sown lawn; or “This way will be faster,” they say to their passenger as they tattoo the pattern of their 4×4 Jeep’s tires onto the ground.

Such situations might seem like no big deal to some, but when you’re the one who has to constantly fix the damage, no matter how big or small, it can get real annoying, real fast. Looking at statistics on property crime victimizations, it seems that quite a few landowners have had to deal with such damage. For instance, back in 2019, there were close to 2.18 million cases of burglary or trespassing, arguably leaving a similar—if not bigger—number of property owners quite annoyed.

In a recent interview with Bored Panda, the OP shared that it’s the absolute lack of respect for their property that has frustrated the couple the most.

“There is no easement through our property,” she said. “The person responsible is saving themselves approximately 20 seconds of extra driving to not go through our property but instead they clearly have a level of entitlement that somehow makes them think they have the right to enter private property without permission.”

The redditor said that she goes to the property every couple of weeks and finds new tracks every time. She also mentioned having an idea of who might be the mystery driver leaving said tracks, but the couple hasn’t been able to prove it yet. “We have an idea of who it is that is driving through the property; well, more so have an idea of their specific street but without actual proof, we have nothing to stand on, unfortunately.”

To deter people from wandering the territories they’re not supposed to, the act of criminal trespassing—entering someone else’s property and staying there without permission or a right to do so—often results in penalties or fines. Though most trespassing cases are categorized as a misdemeanor, according to LawInfo, such transgressions can reportedly end in fines, jail time, community service, or probation.

If you want to deter people from stepping into your property, you might want to start with a ‘No Trespassing’ sign

Image credits: Aaron J Hill / pexels (not the actual photo)

Even though trespassing can put the wanderer in quite a pickle, some liability reportedly falls on the shoulders of the property owner as well. FindLaw noted that landowners can be liable for certain injuries the trespassers suffer, if they willfully injure them or should have known about the presence of frequent trespassers and kept an unsafe condition.

That means, even if you’re on your own property, you might get in trouble, depending on how “welcoming” of an environment you have created for the intruders. Just to give you an example, according to said source, if a homeowner sets up a booby trap with a tripwire and the trespasser actually trips and suffers quite significant injuries, the landowner might end up being responsible for them.

For those seeking to avoid such situations and such liability, there are things they can do to try to deter people from stepping foot on their property. First and foremost, there’s the good old ‘No Trespassing’ sign, which should be put up in such a visible place, it becomes impossible to prove that one simply “didn’t notice it”. Then there’s also cameras that can not only catch the perpetrator red-handed but make them think twice about trespassing after they see the mounted cameras. (However, you might want to delve deeper into your country’s or city’s laws regarding videotaping and filming first, just in case.)

The OP shared that setting up video cameras, which a few redditors suggested doing, too, was in their action plan as well, so it looks like it’s just a matter of time now. “We’re planning on installing trail cameras while we go out there this weekend, plus reinforce the fencing, again. And add some extra signage to get the point across.”

Fellow netizens shared their thoughts in the comments

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