A now deleted post in the HN thread (for the Utah BLM posting) indicated it was placed by a local outdoor group in memory of someone who died. They were purportedly freaked out it had been found & were trying to get the BLM post deleted - not understanding it had gone viral.

ref: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25202573

I checked the poster's rep and he seemed like an ordinary HN geek. I'm this side of even odds, that he was being straight up with us.

edit: I see now that he seems to disavow the whole thing, toward the bottom of the thread.

wasn't this in the middle of nowhere? seems unlikely they'd have heavy equipment out there. Seems more likely some jerks decided to take it for themselves for bragging rights.