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Black spray paint and red marker graffiti cover the inside of the pillars of Saskatoon’s Vimy War memorial on the 108th anniversary of the pivotal First World War battle.
The structure in Kiwanis Memorial Park, was built in 1937 by the Kiwanis Club to pay tribute to those who sacrificed their lives in World War I.
The Battle of Vimy Ridge is seen as a symbol of Canadian unity, during which 120,000 men in all four Canadian divisions fought together to secure a strategic battle point.
Nearly 3,600 Canadian soldiers died in the battle, while another 7,000 were wounded.
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While it’s not clear just how long the graffiti has been there, Bill Fahr, president of the Nutana Royal Canadian Legion Branch 362, said it’s shocking and disgusting that a memorial dedicated to Canadian soldiers would be desecrated.
“It makes me wonder what society is coming to when things like that happen,” he said. “I think we need to do some more education in the public as to how important these memorials to our soldiers are, to those who sacrificed on our behalf.”
Red and black spray paint cover the pillars of the Vimy Memorial in Saskatoon. (Lara Fominoff/650 CKOM)
He wants to remind people that even though the battle of Vimy Ridge happened more than 100 years ago, those in the military fought for Canada, and continue to do so today.
“Even though we’re not actively at war, we do have members of the armed forces who have been deployed on NATO missions, on peacekeeping missions, that sort of thing. They put themselves in harm’s way to protect our way of life and protect Canadians,” he said.
In a statement, the City of Saskatoon said it was aware of the graffiti at the Vimy Memorial, along with other locations across the city.
“Assets which have been vandalized by graffiti, such as the Vimy Memorial, form part of a larger list of priority work collected over the winter to be removed or repaired as soon as the weather is warm enough to support works such as pressure washing and paint,” it read.
The statement also indicated that a graffiti “team” should be out in the coming weeks if temperatures remain cooperative.
