Stockton’s Little Manila Center defaced by vandal

STOCKTON — Several vinyl banners honoring Stockton’s Filipino-American heritage were damaged after a woman is said to have tried to rip them down from the windows of the Little Manila Center in downtown.

Students with the Little Manila Dance Collective arrived about 6 p.m. Monday to find the images of Filipino icons in the center’s storefront vandalized. Graffiti with racial content was left behind.

Five of six donated vinyl banners that had been on the windows for the past three years were either ripped off or damaged, graffiti written with nail polish was on one window and letters were removed from a sign. The displays were estimated to cost about $800, officials said. Stockton police on Tuesday said the investigation is ongoing and it’s currently being classified as a vandalism case.

October is Filipino-American History Month.