Calgary home hit with Nazi-themed graffiti after election signs pulled down

Election sign graffiti went a step too far over the weekend in Calgary.

Jordan Barrett woke up Sunday morning to discover a swastika and the phrase “heil Hitler” spray-painted in red on his white board fence in Ogden.

It was the same fence that, during the election period in May, had a sign advertising the Alberta NDP candidate for Calgary-Peigan Denis Ram and then for NDP Leader Rachel Notley.

“We woke up one morning to a swastika spray-painted on (the election sign). We since removed the sign and replaced it just to find another one the following week,” Barrett said.

“And then once the election happened, they decided to come back a third time and actually spray-paint our actual fence, which I covered up immediately.”

Calgary police confirm they are investigating a series of vandalisms at Bennett’s property in southeast Calgary.

1:27 Campaign signs vandalized across Alberta

Investigators believe that on May 20, between midnight and 10 a.m., a person vandalized an election sign.

Officers canvassed the area for CCTV footage and surveyed nearby areas to determine if other signs had been vandalized with similar symbols, finding no other instances.

On June 4, police attended Barrett’s home again to find the hate symbols spray-painted directly on his fence.

“Both of these incidents are currently under investigation to determine if hate motivation is a factor. At this time, we cannot confirm whether the incidents are targeted to the resident,” the Calgary Police Service said in a statement.

Election sign vandalism can result in charges under the Criminal Code of Canada, as well as vandalism to private property.

The CPS said hate-motivated crimes are recognizable, like any other crime, where the perpetrator was motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on one of nine personal characteristics of the victim. But police said political groups and/or affiliation do not fall under those characteristics.

Election signs in the 2023 and 2019 provincial elections were targets of vandalism, with police in the past election warning that criminal charges can stem from defacing the signs.

This election saw swastikas spray-painted on NDP signs in places like Calgary and in more rural ridings like Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre.

Barrett said the Nazi-themed graffiti on his property was “incredibly discouraging.”

“I remember growing up thinking it was a universally known fact that Nazis were the bad guys. And it seems that not everybody really gets that these days,” he said.

“That imagery has no place in the world, let alone our neighbourhood or my fence.”