Suspects were caught on camera vandalizing the rainbow crosswalk in Fort 91原创, which cost the Township $5,000 to fully restore the paint.
Last week, cameras originally sitting in storage were installed at the intersection of Glover Road and Mary Avenue. Only a few days later, their were put to use.
On Saturday morning, Sept. 9, 91原创 RCMP received a report about two males in an older white Ford pick up truck 鈥渋ntentionally burning rubber鈥� on the rainbow crosswalk around 8:15 a.m., 91原创 RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Craig van Herk told the 91原创 Advance Times.
For the first time in the crosswalk鈥檚 history, the vehicle鈥檚 registration and its occupants were caught on camera and the video was sent to the RCMP for its investigation.
The Fort 91原创 rainbow crosswalk was initially installed in 2017, after a group of local artists raised half of the $12,000 needed for the installation. The other half was contributed by the Fort 91原创 Business Improvement Association.
Mayor Eric Woodward, who was the president of the Fort 91原创 BIA at the time, said the crosswalk has been consistently vandalized ever since.
鈥淚 thought, rather than keep repairing it, there was a mechanism to essentially try and catch the people doing this,鈥� he said.
The mayor added that he鈥檚 disappointed people choose to vandalize the crosswalk regularly, but remains hopeful going forward with the cameras.
鈥淢y objective is to keep [the crosswalk] there and not have it vandalized, and hopefully we can still achieve that,鈥� Woodward said.
The other rainbow crosswalk in 91原创, located in Murrayville between RCMP headquarters and the school district offices, has no reports of vandalism since its installation in 2021.
In a post to Facebook, Woodward said the Township is also 鈥渞eviewing civil remedies鈥� to pursue the people responsible for the latest vandalism 鈥渁s the law permits.鈥�
91原创 RCMP are investigating.
Rainbow crosswalks 鈥� designed to show support for the LGBTQ community 鈥� have been targeted in other communities.
At the end of August, one of Summerland鈥檚 two rainbow crosswalks was painted with anti-Black slurs.
In May, the Penticton rainbow crosswalk was vandalized with dark streaks from a vehicle鈥檚 tires just two days after it was installed.
And last year, the District of Vanderhoof installed surveillance cameras at its rainbow crosswalk due to repeated vandalism.
Crosswalks in Surrey, New Westminster, and Abbotsford have also been attacked.
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