Executive officer Jill Johnson was shocked yesterday when she discovered a stack of 3m by 90cm gates, used for outfield fencing, had been stolen.
The gates were piled behind the clubrooms shared by Softball Otago and the Roslyn-Wakari football club at Ellis Park.
"We got a bit of a shock to walk around the corner and find them gone," Johnson told the Otago Daily Times.
"It has taken a substantial effort to take them. Moving 50-plus gates would not have been easy," she said.
Johnson said the gates, tucked away in a relatively hidden spot, could have been stolen any time in the past month.
They were not insured and Softball Otago will now have to try to raise more funds to replace them.
They were to be used to ring the outfield of Ellis Park's diamond No 6.
"It's particularly frustrating for us because we've got the Masters Games softball in February and then the South Island junior secondary schools tournament in March," Johnson said.
"We certainly won't be replacing the gates this season."
Ellis Park is surrounded on one side by high-level housing and Johnson said she hoped a member of the public might have seen something which could provide a clue to the gates' disappearance.
Dunedin police are investigating the theft.
