Penn Park in Whittier, California suffered more than $5,000 of damages to trees, shrubs, fences, and sprinklers after more than 800 people got wind of the free money stashed in Pez containers by Jason Buzi, the creator of the @HiddenCash Twitter account, The Whittier Daily News reports.
Buzi, a Bay Area real estate investor, has been hiding money around California and even in New York City and then tweeting out clues to its whereabouts since May. He hid nearly $1,500 around Penn Park.
To make sure the chaos didn't get out of control, local police patrolled the scene, and Assistant City Manager Nancy Mendez told the Daily News that it cost another $1,700 to cover their overtime costs. The city is thinking about asking Buzi to reimburse the city for the damages.
"He seems like his heart's in the right place, so we'll ask," Mendez said to reporter Brian Day.
Buzi, for his part, tweeted that he doesn't plan on doing any more night drops. In fact, a recent tweet indicates that there won't be any more cash scavenger hunts at all for a while:
After today, we are taking a little break, as we try to figure out the next steps for Hidden Cash and also get some much needed rest!
- Hidden Cash (@HiddenCash) July 13, 2014
Thank you to our supporters, and to our critics - you should know we are only motivated by the best intentions.
- Hidden Cash (@HiddenCash) July 13, 2014
Check out the photos of the park uploaded to Imgur by Reddit user Shainajoy: