Pride crosswalk vandalized at Medicine Hat College, cleaned up within hours

Vandalism to the newly installed Pride crosswalk at Medicine Hat College was quickly cleaned up Saturday morning and officials are asking that it be investigated as a hate crime.

Sometime after midnight on Saturday, someone dumped white paint on the colourful rainbow crosswalk installed last week at the entrance to the post-secondary institution in southeast Alberta.

"There are numerous surveillance cameras that are available and police are looking through all the footage," said Irlanda Price, associate vice-president of student development.

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"I believe there has been some activity captured on camera."

Police said in a Facebook post that two people dressed in black caused the damage, which is estimated at about $200.

But for Price, it's about more than the cost of repairs.

"This is something we unveiled last week and of course, people are entitled to different types of opinions, but this is something Medicine Hat College believes was important to us as an inclusive post-secondary institution," she said.

Price described her reaction to the vandalism as one of "extreme disappointment."

"We work really hard to make the campus amenable to everyone so everyone can see themselves there, so the fact someone, or people, did this, it was disappointing for sure," she said.

Price says it was "very important" that the damage be removed quickly.

"I think it was a strong message to our student population and in support of our Student Association, whose initiative this was from the beginning, that we are committed to this and that it is something we are going to continue to work toward because Medicine Hat College needs to continue to be a really inclusive institution," she said.

Medicine Hat was one of the first colleges in the province to install a rainbow crosswalk Mount Royal University in Calgary unveiled one in late August which was important to both students and staff as a symbol of inclusion and acceptance, said Price.

"We're going to continue to keep going and stick to the fact that we will continue to restore the crosswalk and stand by what it represents and continue to celebrate achievements," she said.

"Medicine Hat is very welcoming as a city. This was a student-lead initiative and we were just happy to be a part of it."

Anyone with information is asked to call Medicine Hat police at 1-403-529-8481 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

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