A treasure hunt — yes, an actual buried treasure hunt — has been stumping San Franciscans, and the fallout is starting to pile up. We're talking torn-up parks, frustrated property owners, and a city that already can't keep its public spaces in decent shape now dealing with amateur prospectors treating Golden Gate Park like it's the Klondike.

Look, we love a good civic adventure as much as anyone. San Francisco could use more weird, spontaneous fun. But here's the thing about incentives: tell people there's $10,000 in the ground and they will absolutely destroy public property to find it. That's not cynicism — that's economics. People respond to incentives, and ten grand is a pretty strong one.

The real question is accountability. If organizers launched this hunt without coordinating with the city — without thinking through what happens when hundreds of treasure-seekers start digging up parks, sidewalk planters, and who knows what else — then they should be on the hook for damages. Period. You don't get to externalize your costs onto taxpayers and call it entertainment.

San Francisco already spends eye-watering sums maintaining its public infrastructure (with, let's be honest, mixed results). The last thing the city budget needs is a line item for "treasure hunt remediation."

And let's spare a thought for the parks department workers who now get to spend their Monday mornings filling in holes dug by people following cryptic clues on Instagram.

We're not anti-fun. We're anti-someone-else-paying-for-your-fun. If you're going to bury $10,000 in a city, maybe set aside another $10,000 for the cleanup. That's what responsible adults do — they account for the full cost of their actions instead of letting the public pick up the tab.

Happy hunting, San Francisco. Just maybe bring a conscience along with your shovel.