A mural in Saint-Henri has been defaced for the third time in a month and some are considering the act a message of hate.
Resident Yves Lavoie is so fed up, he says it’s time for the borough to step up efforts against vandalism in the area.
“I’m sick of vandals, I’m sick,” Lavoie said while looking at the paint-splattered mural on St-Jacques Street.
“I hate that. I hate that for two reasons: it’s kind of a hate message and two, it’s ugly,” Lavoie said.
READ MORE: St-Henri vandalism: Cause for concern?
The mural was created by Jessica Sobagal, as part of Unceded Voices, a collective of female street artists of aboriginal descent and of colour.
It depicts a woman holding a sign with the words “white supremacy is killing me.”
Since it was painted in August, it’s been defaced three times.
“Two weeks ago, here, you see a bit of it… it was written ‘anti-white.’ So some people in the community came and put some black paint to hide it,” Lavoie said while showing a covered up graffiti at the bottom of the mural.
Although Lavoie thinks the mural’s message can be seen as controversial, he believes that doesn’t justify ruining it.
“It’s sad. Even if it’s controversial, express yourself differently than by vandalizing people’s art.”
Others Global News spoke to agree with Lavoie.
“That’s horrible,” Kat Gogas said.
“These people are trying to express themselves and put something beautiful up on a wall and somebody goes and destroys it. It’s hurtful.”
“I guess it is a bit extreme of a message, but there’s no reason to vandalize that,” William Payette said.
READ MORE: Saint-Henri anti-gentrification vandalism sparks search for suspects
Lavoie says this type of vandalism is an ugly problem that doesn’t stop at the mural.
He says he can’t walk an inch on St-Jacques Street without facing a tag, including at his own home.
One of Lavoie’s brick walls has been tagged.
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It’s why the Saint-Henri resident is urging the borough to be more proactive.
“The city they act like firemen, they want us to erase it fast, and they help us erase it but I think the solution is to prevent.”
Lavoie would like to see more patrolling and accountability for those who deface public property and art.
Borough councillor Craig Sauvé said he’s disappointed and frustrated about the mural being vandalized.
“We have a lot to discuss about how we’ve treated indigenous populations in this country and clearly the artist is trying to express that. To attack that is extremely disrespectful,” Sauvé told Global News.
Sauvé said the borough approved a $500 investment to apply a special anti-tag material on the mural and that he will donate some of his own money as well.
Sauvé said the Sud-Ouest borough has also invested an average of $180,000 per year into a new graffiti removing and prevention program, cleaning graffiti for free.
READ MORE: Montreal graffiti cleaners can’t keep up with taggers
“They’re going to put vines, they’re going to put bushes, they’re going to do these kind of things that will prevent graffiti from happening because people don’t paint over plants,” Sauvé told Global News.
“The borough is not going to stop tag culture… The thing we have to do is clean as fast as possible and prevent more spaces from being tagged.”
Global News reached out to Unceded Voices, the collective responsible for the mural, but didn’t hear back before time of publication.
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