Statue of George Vancouver vandalized outside city hall

The statue of George Vancouver outside city hall was vandalized overnight Wednesday, security officials say.

Paint appears to have been splashed on both sides of the statue.

Crews were brought in to clean it up Thursday morning.

George Vancouver was a British explorer who charted much of the B.C. coast in the 18th century, becoming namesake to Vancouver and Vancouver Island.

The Vancouver police confirm they are aware of the vandalism and have started an investigation into what happened.

In a statement, Sgt. Aaron Roed said it is “very unfortunate” incidents like this have happened.

They are asking anyone with information to contact them.

Calls are growing around the world to remove statues of historical figures shared discriminatory or hateful perspectives more common to their time.

In Montreal, more than 9,000 people have signed a new petition calling for the John A. Macdonald to be removed from the Place du Canada Park.

The petition’s organizers are calling on Mayor Valérie Plante to act and take down the monument, which they say symbolizes Canada’s “racist, colonial, white nationalist” past.

Meanwhile, two statues of Italian explorer and colonizer Christopher Columbus have been destroyed in Richmond, Va., and Boston, Mass., amid protests against police brutality and centuries of racism that led up to the death of George Floyd.

– with files from The Canadian Press, Jagger Haines and Josh K. Elliot