CREW members aboard one of the world`s oldest paddle steamers escaped serious injury after a man standing on a bridge threw a metal stake at the vessel, piercing two of its walls.
The 130-year-old PS Enterprise was steaming on Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra on Saturday when the middle-aged man standing on the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge launched the steel fence picket, police said.
The picket pierced two timber walls of the Enterprise`s saloon, narrowly missing six National Museum of Australia (NMA) volunteers on board.
"Thankfully, the crew members were unharmed but this was a shocking act of violence and vandalism," museum public affairs director Dennis Grant said.
"The picket was thrown with quite some force. It could have caused serious injuries."
ACT Policing said the incident occurred just before 10am (AEST) on Saturday.
"The star picket was thrown in a spear-like fashion and punched a hole in the timber vessel," a police spokesman said in a statement.
No one was injured in the "dangerous incident" but police were searching for a man "40 to 50 years of age", he said.
The PS Enterprise, built in Victoria in 1878 from river red gums, was acquired by the NMA in 1984.
The 17-metre long vessel is crewed by volunteers and takes to Lake Burley Griffin every weekend during spring.
