It didn't take long for the recently installed rainbow crosswalk to be vandalized in downtown Barrie.
Someone thought it would be a good idea to perform burnouts and leave streaks of black rubber behind at the site, located across Simcoe Street between Meridian Place and Heritage Park.
"That's horrible, disappointing and heart-breaking," Coun. Natalie Harris told BarrieToday when contacted Monday morning. "The Barrie that I know and love is about inclusivity, acceptance and love. Do we need to put time and effort into vandalizing our beautiful city? I don't understand that and it doesn't make sense to me."
The rainbow crosswalk, which was painted during the night of July 3, was unveiled without much fanfare.
"It took a lot of hard work with the city to make sure that was a beautiful crosswalk and now we need to put money into repairing it because it's been vandalized," Harris added. "It's not OK. It's not acceptable in our city."
The city's gesture filled the hearts of local members of the LGBTQ community, but Harris says it's a slap in the face to people who had used the crosswalk as a rallying point.
"It looked so beautiful, right there in front of Meridian Place," she said. "People have been taking the time to take pictures in front of it and they're so proud of our city for having it."
Following an inquiry into the incident by BarrieToday, city police communications co-ordinator Peter Leon went to the site this morning to have a first-hand look. He said no official complaints have been received by police, but officers will look into it further, because it's an obvious case of mischief.
"It does look fresh," Leon told BarrieToday. "From the appearance, it would be referred to as acceleration skid marks. So somebody is starting from a stopped position and going through. Basically, someone has put the pedal to the metal and left that skid mark there."
The marks left behind at the rainbow crosswalk are far different than if someone had to brake quickly to avoid a pedestrian, for example. When a person hits the brakes in that type of incident, the tire thins out and and leaves a distinctive mark, Leon said.
"In this case, because the tire is spinning too quickly, it actually leaves a full impression on the road's surface, so that's why it's called an acceleration skid mark," he added. "That person would've been stopped at the light, rolled up to where they were and then just floored it and left that type of a skid mark.
"Seeing something like that is very disturbing, to say the least," Leon added.
Harris says it's hard to pinpoint where that behaviour comes from.
"It could be ignorance, or just people acting out and not knowing what it represesnts," she said. "Any type of vandalism, I don't understand. To do that to the crosswalk, that's heart-breaking. I'm so sad and disheartened by that, it's not OK."
Anyone with information is being urged to come forward to police.
"That type of behaviour and that type of activity is not acceptable, especially with what that crosswalk represents to the community," Leon said. "There's no reason for anything like that."
