Then why help them kill themselves? What do you gain other than a perverse pleasure? You must have been the school bully.
Just stop. I’m not killing anyone, or even putting anyone at risk, so quit the whole drama-queen bit. If the hapless hikers lose the trail, they should know enough to turn back, and if they don’t, they’re endangering themselves. Same as if nobody had ever built the silly little markers in the first place.
As for what I get out of it, I’m improving the appearance of the trail. No perverse pleasure involved at all.