Last I read it was on final warning, then the OP said the mods should just go for it and lock the thread...

...glad I bookmarked that baby figure site link someone gave me before the thread was blocked.

It's perhaps a shame that a thread can't be locked without being taken down altogether;

e.g. just the problem posts excluded with an advisory message in their place... or just lock the thread so it can't be further posted to, but what has been posted up to that point could still be read.

However, I guess it's not just an issue of site functionality there... doing it the above way would also, I'm sure, represent a vastly increased, likely untenable, administrative burden?

But, conversely, the problem with a locked thread being entirely removed from view is that unscrupulous individuals can effectively censor a thread they don't like, by introducing something that forces the mods to lock it.

Cheers ;-)