You talk like you think that you were a victim of vandals?
Out here in Colorado, there is a lot of public land: National Forests, BLM lands, National Parks, State Parks, etc. There are some pretty remote areas, where it might be easy to assume nobody goes. But that is not the case, and because of that, the excepted and generally practiced philosophy is that building any type of shelter or structure on public land is not acceptable unless you have an outfitters license, or a grazing permit. Permanent or semi-permanent camp sites like the one you speak of are very frowned upon, and whenever they are found they are dismantled, either by other campers, organized groups (like the Sierra Club), or even forest service work parties.
That camp site that you put together, and that you think is so nifty, will most likely be just an eye sore to anyone else. If everyone that ventured into the woods decided to erect a shelter out of the materials at hand, the untouched natural experience would soon be ruined. Some people don't realize that one of the most important things that they can do when they are out in the back country is to be considerate of the next person. Many of us are drawn to the wild places by their pristine qualities. That shelter that you "bushcrafted together" just wizzed all over that pristine quality.
If you have a need to practice that type of bushcraft it would be wise to only do so on private property, with expressed permission from the landowner.
However, I don't discount I would totally lose my mind and run off in a direction that would lead to me not knowing where I was. As a matter of fact, I frequently lose my mind and do some pretty stupid things.
