Saskatchewan

Memorial for teens killed in crash near Lloydminster, Sask., vandalized

Kelsey Appleton was travelling toward the city Wednesday morning when she noticed the plaques and photo collage at the site had been defaced with black spray paint.

Student noticed plaques and photo collage were spray painted

The roadside memorial was erected after a 2013 collision claimed the lives of six Saskatchewan teenagers. (Kelsey Appleton/CBC)

A roadside memorial near Lloydminster, Sask., that was erected in honour of six teenagers killed in a collision with a tanker truck has been vandalized.

Kelsey Appleton, a student at the Lakeline College campus in Lloydminster, was travelling west toward the city Wednesday morning when she noticed the plaques and photo collage at the site had been defaced with black spray paint.

Faint smudges of black spray paint can still be seen on parts of the collage that forms part of the memorial. (Kelsey Appleton/CBC)

"I couldn't believe that somebody did that. I know if it was my own family, I'd be devastated," said Appleton, who posted about the vandalism on Facebook.

Three boys and three girls died after the crash, which happened about six kilometres southeast of Lloydminster in 2013.

"I'm not close with the families or the kids that passed away," said Appleton. "But even just the respect is definitely not there that should be at a time when people are still mourning this loss. That hurts a lot."

Appleton went to check back on the site later Wednesday morning. The vandalism had been cleaned up.

The spray paint wasn't the first time the memorial had been marked, according to Appleton. She said people had previously shot at it with BB guns.

BB gun pellet marks from previous acts of vandalism spot the memorial. (Kelsey Appleton/CBC)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Guy Quenneville

Reporter at CBC Ottawa

Guy Quenneville is a reporter at CBC Ottawa born and raised in Cornwall, Ont. He can be reached at guy.quenneville@cbc.ca