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Swastikas appear on downtown Victoria bus shelters

VicPD says graffiti has increased significantly in last six months
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On Wednesday a picture of a downtown Victoria bus shelter defaced with swastikas was posted to Twitter. (Twitter/@DuchessAllie)

Swastikas painted on walls and bus shelters in Victoria have raised concerns among local Twitter users.

Tweets posted Wednesday show incidents of the hate marking appearing on downtown bus shelters – one shows swastikas drawn onto pigs in an ad on a bus shelter, reportedly outside the Hudson Market on Douglas Street.

In another Tweet, North Delta MLA Ravi Kahlon shared an image of a Swastika reportedly drawn on a wall outside his friend’s door in downtown Victoria.

“Scary stuff,” he remarked in his Tweet.

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Asked about the swastikas, VicPD said there has been a significant increase in graffiti over the last six months, but most of it hasn’t involved hate symbols.

“Instances of swastika and other hate-symbol graffiti are understandably concerning,” said VicPD communications coordinator Bowen Osoko. “Both our hate crimes investigator and our graffiti investigator are aware of similar incidents in Victoria and Esquimalt.”

VicPD says surveillance footage is always helpful, and asks anyone who discovers incidents like these to call the non-emergency line at 250-996-7654.

READ ALSO: Jewish community reeling after five gravestones desecrated

Twitter user @DuchessAllie, asked BC Transit to remove the symbols, but they responded that stop maintenance is the job of the municipality.

The City of Victoria could not be reached for comment by the time of publication.



nina.grossman@blackpress.ca

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