Vandals struck Hillcrest middle school in Coquitlam and neighboring streets leaving spray-painted graffiti and broken windows in their wake.
“It’s very disturbing to the neighborhood,” confirmed Cpl. Michael McLaughlin with the Coquitlam RCMP, who said about six to eight vehicles were damaged, windows were broken at the school and graffiti was spray-painted on the building and the cars.
The spree took place late Friday night or early Saturday morning, causing a mess for the school district and nearby homeowners.
It was reported to the Tri-City News that one of the graffiti images was a swastika, but McLaughlin wouldn’t confirm that except to say “it was meant to be offensive, for sure.”
A school district spokesperson said one graffiti image resembled the recognized hate symbol but it was painted backwards.
Peter Chevrier said workers were on site painting over the graffiti and boarding up windows that were broken Saturday morning.
“Thankfully, Hillcrest has been relatively immune from vandalism over the past several years as most windows have shutters, and we hope this is an isolated incident,” Chevrier said in an email.
McLaughlin also said incidents of vandalism against schools were down this year.
When the Tri-City News visited the school, there was evidence of blue paint on an east-facing wall although most of the damaged exterior was repainted.
