A familiar sign along Division Street, the ‘Go Green Baby’ sign, is gone. The sign has been up for years between Queen and Concession streets and has been removed after it was vandalized early Saturday.
Owner of Go Green Baby, Amanda Findley, says, “I feel personally hurt by it. You know, we put our blood and soul into this business and we’ve been doing everything we can to support our community through the pandemic.”
Security footage captured a group of eight people walking northbound on Division just after 2 am. Findley says while the camera didn’t catch the act of destruction, the audio is crystal clear.
“Maybe there’s a sense of entitlement that someone can just do what they want and not take any responsibility for it and that feels upsetting,” says Findley.
Amanda Findley filed a police report but says she doesn’t plan to press charges. This past weekend was a busy one for police, with officers dealing with crowd control and clearing the streets in the University District during a second consecutive weekend of homecoming celebrations.
One of three mischief calls was called in not far from Go Green Baby.
Someone was attempting to remove signs at Montreal and Queen. Police were also called about people using construction signs to play tennis and hockey at Johnson and Toronto streets Saturday, and an airhorn was thrown through a window on University Avenue.
Another downtown business, Amadeus Cafe, located on Princess Street, shared on Facebook that their mascot “Uncle Fritz” was taken Friday night — but he was returned two days later.
As for Findley, she says she’ll be writing a letter to the Queen’s Alma Mater Society and Principal Patrick Deane.
She says, “It feels pretty obvious to those of us who live and work in the community that, with the timing of what was happening, that this is somehow related to the festivities that were happening for homecoming.”
Findley says despite the extra cost she’s going to replace her old sign, and is hoping her new one will be in place for the holiday season.