The rocky breakwater is the favoured route to Saint John's Partridge Island -- for anyone who visits there illegally.
But this past weekend, a team of volunteers was authorized to go by kayak to the island for a clean-up.
What they found, and the volume of trash, raised a lot of eyebrows.
"A lot of it was garbage that people carted over there like beer cans, pop cans, plastic wrappers, food wrappers, McDonald's wrappers," said volunteer Greg Marquis. "There was a paint roller and cans of paint from the graffiti artist. I mean, those are just the things I found."
Graffiti is ever-present on the historic landmarks and fortifications, with fresh drawings appearing on a regular basis.
It turns out that on clean-up day, the volunteers were not alone.
"It was a little awkward to bump into people who had come across the causeway without permission, but it must be happening every day, and it probably happens at night as well," Marquis said.
For example, last week, four 11-year-old boys had to be rescued from the island, after one suffered an injury.
"Somebody will at some point get killed out there," said historian Harold Wright.
He says security needs to be beefed up to prevent trespassers from getting onto the island and to prevent even more damage.
"Vandals have literally ripped out, ripped steel doors off, knocked down brick walls," Wright said. "They have taken an elevator shaft that was covered in very thick wood, they ripped all that out."
A spokesperson for the Coast Guard said Tuesday that a range of options is now being considered to deter trespassing, but offered no specifics.
Despite the warnings about how dangerous it is to visit Partridge Island, the evidence they're leaving on the island would seem to indicate that more people are doing just that.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Mike Cameron.
