Kelowna City Hall defaced again with COVID-19 hoax graffiti - Action News
Home WebMail Wednesday, November 13, 2024, 05:00 AM | Calgary | -1.4°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
British Columbia

Kelowna City Hall defaced again with COVID-19 hoax graffiti

A vandal in Kelowna, B.C., who appears to have grievances with COVID-19 restrictions has struck again.

RCMP release photo of 'person of interest' who may be connected to vandalism

Kelowna City Hall has been hit with COVID-19-related graffiti for the second time in two weeks. (submitted to CBC by Heather Friesen)

City hall in Kelowna, B.C., has been defaced for a second time by a graffiti vandal who appears to have grievances with COVID-19 restrictions.

Police say the vandal struck around 4:30 a.m. PT Wednesday.

The large black spray-painted messages read in part:"Lest we forget our veterans sacrificed their lives fighting to preserve a free world for us. Now we have surrendered those freedoms..."

City hall was closed in observance of Remembrance Day all day while crews worked to remove the graffiti off two walls.

Policehave released a photo of a person of interest, described asapproximately sixfeet tallwith a slim build, wearing ripped blue jeans, a balaclavaand a black winter jacket with a hood.

Kelowna RCMP have released this image of a person of interest. He is described as approximately six feet tall with a slim build, wearing ripped blue jeans, a balaclava and a black winter jacket with a hood. (Kelowna RCMP )

Heather Friesen, who describes herself as a community activist, posted photos of the graffiti on social media.

"It definitely looks like the same people [who did the earlier graffiti] but this time it didn't have as many spelling errors," said Friesen."I'm embarrassed andangry. It's just more money being wasted on cleaning."

On the night of Oct. 26, two different walls of city hall were defaced in a similar all-capitals style. That message read in part:"I want breath[e] fresh air and live fre[e]COVIDhas a 99.9% survi[v]al rate."

The building was first targeted by vandals on the night of Oct. 26. (Winston Szeto/CBC)

The latest graffiti attack comes one day after Interior Health the health authority that administersKelownaissued a COVID-19 alert because of a surge ofcases in the region.

In a statement, the authority says it is concerned by the upward trend and frequency of new clusters.

CBC has contacted Mayor Colin Basran and the city's communications department for comment.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Kelowna RCMP at 250-762-3300, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 if they want to remain anonymous.