Niagara-on-the-Lake rainbow crosswalk vandalized – again

The Niagara-on-the-Lake rainbow crosswalk at the intersection of Anderson Lane and Niagara Stone Rd has now been vandalized for the third time since it was first created on May 29, according to police.

When the tourist town first unveiled the rainbow crosswalk, designed to support the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community, by June 1, it had been vandalized by “burnout” skidmarks, marring the colourful site with black marks from the rubber.

The town cleaned it up and by June 14, it happened again. This time, the Niagara Police identified a 15-year-old from St. Catharines on an ATV as the suspect.

Now it has happened a third time. Niagara Police report that last night (July 31), between 3 am and 3:10 am, a suspect climbed a nearby utility pole and spray-painted the lens on a surveillance camera that was pointed in the direction of the crosswalk.

The suspect then allegedly defaced the crosswalk by spray painting a profane word and doing a burnout that left visible black traction marks.

Due to the camera being tampered with, the police have no suspect or vehicle description so they are appealing to nearby businesses and area residents to review their surveillance footage and report any suspicious behavior.

As well, police added that volunteer members of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Fire Department who responded to the Anderson Lane fire station for an unrelated call for service at 2:40 am “are being asked to recall and report any persons or vehicles that may have seemed out of place.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact the lead detective by dialling 905-688-4111, option 3, extension 1007730.