Chinatown’s Dr. Sun Yat-Sen hit by vandals, again

Vancouver’s Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden has been the target of vandalism again.

The garden’s executive director, Lorraine Lowe, shared on Twitter Thursday afternoon that a monument on the garden’s grounds was spray-painted with graffiti.

“Vandalizing our memorial statue is an all-time low,” Lowe wrote in the post.

Related Story: Frustrated Chinatown business owner considers leaving historic Vancouver neighbourhood

Vice-chair of the Chinese Cultural Centre in Vancouver, Bill Kwok, says it’s the first time the Chinese war memorial has been targeted.

“It’s very disheartening to see a memorial being desecrated in this manner and usually we don’t see something like this happen,” he told CityNews.

“It’s very surprising that they would go for something that close to people’s hearts.”

The memorial, Kwok says, is used as an annual gathering place on Nov. 11 for people to remember the Chinese Canadians who fought in World War II, along with the over 4,000 who died while building the Canadian Pacific Railway.

“For Chinese people in Chinatown, and in Vancouver, and in B.C., [the memorial] is something that they’re aware of and they’re quite surprised that it would get attacked,” Kwok said. 

It’s currently unclear who is responsible for the vandalism to the memorial outside the garden, which is noted as the world’s first Chinese garden built outside of China.

Just last week, Vancouver city council agreed to set aside approximately $700,000 to revitalize the neighbourhood, by addressing vandalism and petty crime in the area.

Kwok says he hopes city hall’s plan will help address some of the health and safety issues in the area.

“We’d all like to see the cultural hub that it has been in the past and continue to be in the future,” he said.