Thanks everyone for your well-considered comments about restoring the deleted path.

Warin61, you suggested that I get in touch with the user who deleted the path. That is what I would normally do, but that user posts in German and I did not feel confident, so I will leave it this time.

OpenStreetMap works because, ON AVERAGE, a typical user is more likely to enhance the data than to damage it. The anarchy and loose structure are the price we pay for making it easy for anyone to contribute in their own way. That approach maximizes contributors, each of whom is more likely to enhance the data than to damage it.

The time will come, WAY in the future, when the data is so good that there's not much to contribute. Then, and only then, will the process need to be slowed down (by verification, notifications, controls, voting or whatever) to counteract damage to the data.

But that time is far off. For now, the lively bazaar of good and bad contributions, with the good ones tending to persist because of filtering by the crowds, is great for the project!