Has the time finally arrived to remove the famous — or infamous — Haiku Stairs?

The long-debated question about the “Stairway to Heaven” in Windward Oahu came up again recently, when a video surfaced earlier this month on social media that showed hikers standing near the top of the stairs, using a makeshift swing that carried an apparently unsecured rider over a steep Koolau cliff, more than 2,000 feet up.

It would be a shame if such stupidity was the catalyst to tear down the Haiku Stairs, which have been closed to the general public since 1987. The engineering marvel, 3,992 stairsteps along a narrow ridge overlooking Kaneohe, offers unparalleled access to a forested area that would otherwise be unreachable to all but the hardiest — or foolhardy — of hikers.

If properly maintained and managed, the stairs, whose origins date back to the 1940s, could be a historical and environmental asset for the public to share.

Unfortunately, the fate of the stairs looks grim. Advocates for Haiku Stairs have so far failed to persuade government agencies or non-government organizations to assume responsibility for the metal structure, which is slowly decaying due to lack of maintenance since the stairs were refurbished in 2002.

The Honolulu Board of Water Supply (BWS), which controls the stairs because they are on watershed land, doesn’t want to manage the stairs, for good reason — its business is water, not operating a visitor attraction.

BWS manager and chief engineer Ernest Lau said Thursday that his “first preference is to find another governmental agency” that would be willing to take over the stairs, as well as the land on which the stairs are built. So far, Lau has made informal inquiries, to no avail.

In the meantime, BWS is paying between $167,000 and $170,000 a year for security, which includes a 24-hour guard to keep people off the stairs. But scofflaws abound: Last year, 328 citations were issued to trespassing hikers; five were arrested. Between June and December 2014, the number of citations was 135. BWS also paid a contractor $23,000 this week to remove the remnants of the amateur swing.

BWS is proceeding with an environmental impact statement that would examine the option of removing the stairs, among other issues — including getting official positions from nearby landowners, such as Kamehameha Schools or the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, on whether they would be willing to assume the responsibility and allow proper public access through their lands.

Windward-area City Councilman Ikaika Anderson, who formed an ad hoc committee in October 2014 to find a way to reopen the stairs, has lost faith.

“The time to save the stairs has come and gone. It’s time to remove them,” Anderson said Thursday.

He cited the lack of support from government agencies as well as the irresponsible behavior of trespassing hikers — including harassment and sometimes physical assaults of nearby homeowners who raise objections.

“It will likely continue to happen as long as the stairs are in place,” he said.

Under the current circumstances, that’s probably true.

The amateur swing, with videos showing people flying out over the abyss — and one young woman apparently slipping off the seat and clinging to the swing for dear life — is just one egregious example. Lau said hikers have been known to do handstands on the railings and hang over the edge.

Legal access points, as well as entry fees to support proper maintenance and security, would draw more responsible hikers and dampen some of the lawless behavior surrounding the stairs.

And as noted by a pro-stairs group, Friends of Haiku Stairs, the stairs themselves are not what’s dangerous: Tens of thousands of hikers have climbed them without incident.

But if no one steps up to responsibly manage the stairs, that could change. And BWS would have no choice but to take down, permanently, the Stairway to Heaven.