CRIME: Graffiti found on Air India memorial, Vancouver police investigating

LARISSA CAHUTE
VANCOUVER DESI

Vancouver police say the graffiti found along the side of the Air India memorial in Stanley Park appears to be a ‘tag,’ so they are not investigating the case as a hate crime. Submitted photo/Twitter

The graffiti found along the side of the memorial appears to be a tag, said VPD spokesman Sgt. Randy Fincham, and there are no “disparaging remarks” to the Indo-Canadian community, so it doesn’t appear to be a hate crime.

“It looks like somebody that didn’t know any better — well they should know better, it’s graffiti,” said Fincham.

The Metro Vancouver-based president of the Indian Overseas Congress, Vikram Bajwa, was shocked when he heard the memorial had been defaced.

“It’s a very sensitive memorial,” he told Vancouver Desi, adding that it shares the grief of the victims’ friends and families.

“It has a very emotional meaning to them,” said Bajwa. “(And) it’s of high importance to the Indo-Canadians.”

But Bajwa agreed with Fincham and chalked the crime up to some “irresponsible” kids.

“It’s sad (that) somebody would do something like that,” he said. “I don’t see any reason to do it — it seems like it’s a bunch of kids who don’t know what the memorial is for.”

The monument was unveiled in Stanley Park in July 2007 — 22 years after more than 300 people were killed in the worst terror attack in Canadian history.

Tags: Air India memorial, graffiti, hate crime, Indo-Canadians, police, Stanley Park, terror attack