Vancouver's Chinatown lions defaced by racist graffiti for second time
The lions had recently been cleaned up after being defaced by graffiti early last week
The stone lions flanking Millennium Gate, the entrance into Vancouver's Chinatown, have been targeted again by racist graffiti, the City of Vancouver tweeted Friday afternoon.
The city said it was "extremely disheartened" by the event, and said it is working with Vancouver police to investigate the vandalism.
We are extremely disheartened to share the news that yet again the Chinatown Lions have been defaced with racist graffiti. We are working with Chinatown community to identify steps we can take to address this issue, as well as supporting <a href="https://twitter.com/VancouverPD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VancouverPD</a> with their investigation.1/2 <a href="https://t.co/trldsV2t9w">pic.twitter.com/trldsV2t9w</a>
—@CityofVancouverThe lions were defaced early last week with graffiti promoting anti-Asian sentiments in connection with the novel coronavirus.
Vancouver police said last week they had investigated 29 anti-Asian hate crimes since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in mid-March — including graffiti sprayed on Asian businesses, slurs directed at people of Asian descent, and incidents of harassment like shoving, punching, and tripping.
It represents an eight-fold increase in incidents compared to the same period last year.
The city has been providing the Chinatown Business Improvement Association with funding to support extra security services during the pandemic.
It says work has begun to remove the graffiti and they are also exploring ways of coating the lions to prevent this from happening again.