VICTORIA -- Mounties in Campbell River are asking the public for help after vandals covered a city park in what officers described as hate speech.
Police say the graffiti taggers painted the Nunns Creek Park playground and bathrooms with sexually explicit images, racially and sexually discriminatory phrases.
Officers believe more than one person was involved in the crime over the long weekend. The vandals appear to identify themselves as "F and L," using blue, orange and silver spray paint.
"Aside from the obvious cost of cleanup, the actions of these taggers is reprehensible," said RCMP Const. Maury Tyre in a statement Wednesday. "The hate speech that was posted referencing people's culture and people's sexual orientation is entirely unacceptable. It would seem that the taggers took aim at people with physical disabilities as well."
Police are asking anyone who witnessed the vandalism or knows who may have been involved to contact them at 250-286-6221.
"It's our hope that someone either saw somebody committing the act or they were witness to a person with spray paint on their clothing or hands this weekend," Tyre said. "This kind of action really shouldn't be tolerated by anyone in the community and we need the public's help to hold these taggers responsible."
