Thefts, break-ins, and odd crimes involving animals have surfaced in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) as rangers take stock of any damages during the government shutdown.

GSMNP spokesperson Dana Soehn said rangers discovered the theft of several tools from a facility in Cosby. The rangers had not determined the total value of stolen items. There was also a break-in at a campground office, but the office was closed for the season and nothing was stolen.

The workers in the Smokies came across what initially appeared to a poaching incident in Cades Cove when three dead deer with gunshot wounds were found near the side of the road. Rangers determined it was actually a case of illegal dumping. The deer were killed legally outside the park and donated to a man who failed to clean the animals before the meat spoiled. He hauled the deer to Cades Cove and disposed of them. Soehn did not have an explanation for why the man chose to dump the rotting deer several miles inside the national park.

Some campgrounds are likely to open later than usual this year due to the shutdown. Otherwise, there are no lasting impacts on visitors to the Smokies.

Other National Park Service properties in East Tennessee reported minimal impact from the shutdown and are yet to discover any cases of major vandalism, theft, or poaching.

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Visiting America’s national parks will forever change you. The remarkable beauty that these vast areas have to offer is almost impossible to truly describe — which is why people are often tempted to take a piece of the park home with them in the form of a plant, rock, or something more precious. But it should go without saying you should never, ever vandalize or steal from a national park.

Some people, it seems, didn’t get that memo. And it’s become such an issue that rangers at Saguaro National Park in Arizona have been forced to put microchips in some of the park’s famed Saguaros, a variety of cactus that is capable of growing more than 40 feet tall and can live upwards of 200 years.

“It’s ironic that we set aside great places like Saguaro National Park and people think that they can just come take the iconic cactus for which the park is named,” says Kevin Dahl, a program manager for the National Park Conservation Association in Arizona. Dahl added that stealing the plants has become a lucrative business as a Saguaro can be sold for as much as $100 per foot.

According to officials, a number of the cactus plants have been microchipped. However, they note that while the chips can identify a stolen plant, they cannot track them. But they are hopeful this new technique will deter thieves in the future.

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