So let me understand this correctly:
1. The aid was damaged by someone shooting at it.
2. There was a concern that if it were to be repaired, the repair crew would be shot at. This is a State Forest roughly an hours drive from Melbourne we're talking about here, not downtown Kabul or Baghdad.
I don't recall any news items over the past year or two saying that anyone was being shot at while repairing a Navigation aid (I'd be thinking I'd remember news like that).
Anyone?
DIOVSH!