Vandals hit Kelowna City Hall with anti-COVID-lockdown graffiti again
Posted November 11, 2020 11:39 am.
Last Updated November 11, 2020 3:11 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
KELOWNA (NEWS 1130) – For the second time in as many weeks, Kelowna City Hall has been vandalized with anti-COVID-19 lockdown graffiti.
The vandalism comes as Canadians mark Remembrance Day.
It’s unclear when the black paint was sprayed around the outside of the building, but some of the messaging reads: “Lest we forget our veterans sacrificed their lives fighting to preserve a free world for us. Now we have surrendered those freedoms.”
“Honour those who died for our freedoms by demanding them back,” another section reads.
City councillor outraged: ‘This is costing taxpayers a lot of money’
Video posted to Twitter Wednesday morning shows workers scrubbing the graffiti off the building. And one Kelowna city councillor Mohini Singh says she’s upset much-needed taxpayer dollars are being wasted cleaning it up.
“This is not cheap. We have city crews working. They’re coming on their day off to work, which is more expensive. We have cops walking around patrolling the area. We have bylaw officers standing by. That’s a lot of money here,” she says. “A lot of taxpayer dollars that are being spent.”
In late October, vandals spray painted on at least two sides of the Kelowna City Hall building, again with messages about COVID-19 but Singh is calling this latest damage a senseless and even more expensive act than the first time.
The text, also sprayed in black paint earlier this year, claimed the pandemic isn’t real and that measures to stop its spread were not worth the economic consequences.
Mounties in Kelowna are not saying yet if they believe the same people are responsible for both crimes.
While Singh says she hopes to identify the vandals, she is also pleading residents to contact their city officials if they have a concern.
“If someone has a problem, contact one of us. If this is a very big issue and we’re missing out on something, call us, contact us. We’re here to listen. We’re here to build a better city.”
