That sucks, mate. At least it can be fixed up though
I can sympathise, having a similar experience on a course once. An instructor asked if he could have a
look at my knife, an O1 enzo trapper with an ironwood handle. Before I even knew what was happening he had tried to spark it off some flint :O
Not only did he scratch the blade, he took a chunk out of the ironwood handle too. I was understandable peeved, but was accommodating and refrained from sparking him off the flint. He eventually offered me some nice timber by means of an apology, which was worth no where near the cost of the ironwood scales I might add, but the thought was appreciated and I accepted. But, it gets worse, the git never sent me anything and I still had to spend hours refurbishing my trapper. Needless to say, I haven't recommended that particular course to anyone!
Since then, I am even more particular about who gets to handle my knives and axes!