Kelowna’s Kettle Valley is known for its charming houses and manicured lawns but the neighborhood’s scenery is marred these days with graffiti and plenty of it.
“It’s a black eye for sure,” Kettle Valley resident Rick Sewell said. “It is disappointing that it is happening up here.”
For the past month, the neighborhood has been hit hard by graffiti vandals spray-painting park benches, utility boxes, signage and businesses.
“Over the years you see the odd little thing kids do but nothing like this,” Sewell said.
One of the businesses that has been vandalized is the Public on Main Bar and Grill restaurant.
“Your first initial response is shock and then you are angry,” restaurant owner Sherry Elliott said, “You feel violated.”
In her case, Elliott had all of her patio chairs spray-painted as well as the glass railing.
“It’s very frustrating, very frustrating,” Elliott said. “I don’t have time to go out there and scrub chairs and take off graffiti.”
At nearby Chute Lake elementary school, district staff spent Tuesday morning painting over a large graffiti sign spray-painted on the back side of the building.
School principal Brenda Kirsch told Global News that the school will now beef up its security with more surveillance cameras and better lighting to try and prevent further damage.
RCMP confirm they have received numerous complaints of graffiti vandalism in Kettle Valley and are considering increasing patrols in the area.
Police say causing damage to public or private property with graffiti spray-paint is a criminal offence and those responsible could face charges if caught.
An individual could end up with a criminal record just because of the simple fact he or she thought it was a cool thing to spray-paint a tag name or symbol on a building or private property,” RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said.