A southeast Calgary couple feels they were targeted because of their German descent after their Christmas display was vandalized with a symbol of hate Saturday night (Dec. 14, 2024).
Christian Fruhen and his wife Silvana Stoesser said they arrived at their Deer Run home shortly after 10 p.m. following a Christmas party to find one of their inflatables had been spray-painted with a red swastika.
“Being a German with a symbol like this, (it’s) unbelievable,” said Stoesser, weeping.
“You know what (the swastika) did to so many people and then seeing this is just terrible,” she added.
The couple has put up their Christmas display – which features dozens of inflatables – for the past ten years, allowing families from Deer Run and surrounding communities to get into the Christmas spirit, take photos, and share donations for the Calgary Food Bank.
They say the display has been vandalized before with a few of the inflatables being cut with a knife, but never have they had a swastika painted on their property.
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“We cannot accept this in any way and there’s no excuse –not one excuse to do things like this,” said Fruhen.
Fruhen posted the act of vandalism on the community’s Facebook group page.
A community member who wished to remain anonymous saw the post and purchased an exact replacement for the couple, dropping the polar bear inflatable off on their doorstep Sunday morning.
“That one lady was offering to buy a new one. I had no time to reply and there was already a new box in front of the front door,” said Fruhen.
A spokesperson for the Calgary Police told Global News that, if caught, the person or persons responsible could face a spray-painting charge which carries a fine of up to $5,000. They said the matter could also lead to a hate crimes investigation.
“This is for me – as a German and my history – this is zero acceptance and zero tolerance at all. It is a crime,” said Fruhen.
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