MAYOR ANGRY OVER GRAFFITI
Brock-Tecumseh statue vandalized
Mayor Drew Dilkens says it’s “disheartening ” that someone would see fit to spray paint graffiti on a recently installed statue depicting a Shawnee warrior and a British Army officer who fought together in the War of 1812.
But that’s exactly what happened overnight Sunday to the 2½-metre-high plinth of the bronze statue of Tecumseh and Maj.- Gen. Sir Isaac Brock unveiled in September in the middle of the roundabout on Riverside Drive entering Sandwich Town.
The words “Turtle Island” were sprayed on the stone surface in block capital letters.
Turtle Island is a term used by some Indigenous groups for North America.
“It’s certainly disheartening that a member of our community would purposely vandalize an important statue and piece of public art in our community, in our city,” said Dilkens, who learned of the graffiti Monday morning. Windsor Mobile Wash was contracted to clean off the graffiti as much as possible.
“We’ve made the best repair possible, the best cleanup possible, and certainly the sun will probably fade whatever marks remain,” said Dilkens.
He urged anyone who sees vandalism like this in the city to report it immediately.
“I’ll tell you one thing, if we ever found out who this person was or who these people were, we would prosecute to the full extent of the law, and this is just a real shameful act,” Dilkens said.
“It’s just a dumb move by someone trying to — I don’t know — it’s a shameful act, we acted immediately to try and clean up the graffiti there that existed on what is a very important art installation in our city and we just ask the community to be vigilant and to report anything that they see.” Dilkens noted that he promised to install more than a hundred surveillance security cameras in the city during the election campaign. “That will be one of the target locations for us to put a camera at,” said Dilkens.
“It’s taking us a little time to get there but that will certainly be high on the list.”
The statue was budgeted for $381,000 but as of its unveiling had cost taxpayers $297,000.
If we ever found out who this person was or who these people were, we would prosecute to the full extent of the law, and this is just a real shameful act.