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Measure with a micrometer, mark it with chalk then cut with a chainsaw.
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The joist hanger over there on the left of the picture has me equally alarmed.
Are the stringers even PT?
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A little caulk should take care of it
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He probably bought precut stringers from home deport and made them work, 
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Measure twice and get someone that knows how to cut it right. LOL
I like the downspout extension.
Don’t worry, they’ll change it out for a brown one once the snow melts. 
Love the gutter extension discharging at the bottom of the stringers in direct contact with the ground too.
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A quick fix for settlement, maybe? 
I have seen this but typically with a metal collar around the cut area to reinforce the post back to one piece. By us it’s done because the frost lifts the 4x4 and the deck becomes unlevel. Easy fix is to cut “X” amount of the post out to relevel the deck structure. Still a defect and I always call it out.
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IMO, no splices. But, why did they not just cut the top off and then lower it back down? No splice needed.
We do not have frost problems here. Would that frost lift indicate the footings were too shallow?
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Yes, but this doesn’t look like a frost lift situation to me. If I had to take a WAG, I think they may have put the post in the ground with no “cake” or footing under it. Then the post was cut to height and the deck was built. The weight of the deck pushed the post about 4-5" deeper into the ground and they had to add a spacer. Or, someone just messed up and cut it too short to begin with.
There is a metal strap at least (hopefully one on the other side too).
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So, you’ve ruled out beavers… 
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Interesting continuous “blemish” or line in the wood. Possibly indicating the human saw tooth beetle. 
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I was looking at the mismatched bevel on the corner, but the “blemish” could be an indicator also. It does kinda look like just peeling paint though.
The more I look at it though, a large piece may have been removed. Those bevels usually aren’t consistent along the entire post.
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Their name comes from the fact that they have six saw-like projections that are found on either side of their thorax.
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They only had a 4 step riser so they had to adapt and modify the deck instead. ROFL
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