Mount Pleasant, SC - Several abandoned boats were pulled from Shem Creek and not only are they an eyesore, they are dangerous.

The boats that were removed are among more than two dozen abandoned boats in Mount Pleasant’s waters alone.

Town officials say this has become a hazardous trend.

The debris can resemble a sunken pirate ship as it’s raised from the water, but Hillary Repik knows it’s nothing close to buried treasure.

"We pride ourselves on our shrimp and our oysters and to have pollution and debris in the creeks is not beneficial," Repik said.

Officials found what were once valuable vessels, but now there now they’re nothing more than trouble below the surface.

They pulled oil leaking engines, three sailboats, and a small motor craft from the waters.

"There are really no markers and some people fly right over them and don’t even know it," Jerod Sewell said.

The rusty remains have been underwater for more than a decade, but the town of Mount Pleasant is tightening its reigns on what floats and what doesn’t.

Councilman Gary Santos says its time owners start paying the price for abandoning their own property.

"It could be because of the economic situation that they're in…but regardless, there's other ways to do it rather than polluting the water ways," Councilman Santos said. "I just hope the tax payers don't have to foot the bill for it.”

However, tax payers are footing the bill.

The town dished out $12,000 for the removal and another $40,000 came from a DHEC grant, which is funded by the state lawmakers.

This is the fourth abandoned boat project to be funded.

Officials say they have every intention of ticketing the owners if they find them.

The clean up should take another day and then the crew will move into the harbor and remove another pile of sunken boats near Crab Bank.

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