Whitehorse vandals are getting out of control and costing taxpayers money, affecting public safety and endangering lives, city officials say.

John Taylor, manager of Bylaw Services, said in an interview this morning vandals have been committing dangerous acts across the city in the past few weeks.

'Some of it is becoming very, very malicious,' he said. 'Someone's going to be hurt or killed if it doesn't stop.

'We've had reports of logs being pulled out of the woods onto Hamilton Boulevard and Falcon Drive, they're building barricades.'

Taylor said manhole covers have also been removed on city streets, gates ripped off at the sewage lagoon, fires lit at the Whitehorse landfill, and crosswalk lights have been tampered with.

'If someone gets hurt here, it's a criminal investigation, people have to understand that.

'This is out of control, it's really getting that way,' he said.

'This is a very, very dangerous issue.'

Taylor said he's calling on Whitehorse residents to assist the city in doing something about the increasing vandalism problem.

'Hopefully someone will call Crime Stoppers,' he said.

'Someone has to know what's going on.'

Jim McLeod, the manager of the Public Works Department, said this morning that he and his staff are getting very concerned with the acts of vandalism and the consequences that could result from them.

'They're putting (barricades) across the road coming off the roundabout where your lights won't catch them.

'On Two Mile Hill, they removed a manhole next to the bike path and threw the lid on the road for someone to hit,' he said.

'Someone could have fallen in the hole.'

A manhole cover was also recently removed on Topaz Cres. in Logan, McLeod added.

He also said the crosswalk lights next to the TD bank on Main Street were also tampered with, with lights changed to indicate pedestrians should walk into oncoming traffic.

McLeod said the sewage lagoons have again been vandalized recently with people ripping off gates, and a fire was set at the Whitehorse landfill.

'It's not just the actual cost, it's the morale, it's everything else. We've got other work to do.'

Dave Pruden, senior constable with the Bylaw Department, said vandals have also hit city buildings directly at the city as well.

'Three weeks ago people with ball bearings, and with what we believe to be slingshots, took out some of the windows at the Bylaw Services building.'

Linda Rapp, Parks Department manager, said while her office sees vandalism every year, this year is worse.

'Vandalism isn't a new thing for us, we have been dealing with it for a number of years.'

'This year it's pretty much out of control,' she said.

Rapp said Parks workers are frequently finding picnic tables that are burned and/or smashed, defaced signage, defaced memorial benches and broken glass.

'Typically we're indicating it costs us $100,000 a year.

'It's terrible for our staff ... it's really disturbing,' she said.

'It's no secret that we have operations and maintenance (budget) challenges, we could use this money for other things.'

Departments have been directed to keep an ongoing tally of the cost of vandalism so the city can get a handle on the scope of the vandalism problem, Rapp added.