‘Racist’ defaces girl’s banner

A 10-year-old whose Black Lives Matter banner was defaced by a vandal has vowed to keep putting up posters “until they hear the message”.

Eager to show her support for the BLM movement but unable to attend marches in person, Lydia Sawyer spent a day creating a huge, colourful banner.

Helped by her brother William, 12, she used fabric paints to write the words ‘black lives matter’ on a sheet, which her family proudly hung outside their home in Chilham, near Canterbury, on June 2.

But on Sunday, they were devastated to find a vandal had thrown black paint at the banner - attacking the young girl’s quiet contribution to the protest. Her mum, Katie Sawyer, said: “We just couldn’t believe it - why would somebody do that?

“It was clearly premeditated because it was done in paint. They’ve not walked past and ripped it down, they’ve clearly come in the night and splashed paint about.

“It’s quite scary. You think ‘is it someone who lives nearby?’ “We were flabbergasted, shocked, and feeling a bit vulnerable.”

Katie was saddened by the way the attack made Lydia feel about being mixed race.

“She said at the end of Sunday ‘it really sucks being brown’,” Katie said. “And that really upset me.

“Never has she said something so blatant about how she feels she is considered less than others by society.” Hundreds of people have expressed outrage at the “cowardly, violent” attack, taking to social media to share words of admiration and encouragement for Lydia.

While Katie says she was initially tempted to take the banner down and forget about it, her determined daughter refused to give up.

“She said ‘no, we’re going to do this again, and we’re going to make it bigger and better. And if they destroy it again, we’ll just keep putting them up until they hear the message’.”

■ Black Lives Matter protests - see pages 16-17.

Lydia’s banner was daubed with paint by a vandal, leaving her upset and shocked

Katie Sawyer with her daughter Lydia, 10