Less than eight months after it had been created, a Summerland mural with a Truth and Reconciliation message was defaced.
The mural, at Summerland Secondary School, was created in September 2021.
The mural design includes the words “Every Child Matters” in English, French, Cree and Syilx.
It also contains hundreds of hand prints from students at the school and members of the community.
The mural vandalism was reported on Tuesday, May 10s.
Bright pink paint was used through the word “Child” as well as on words and symbols elsewhere on the mural.
Underneath, the word “Belief” had been added, altering the message of the mural.
The mural had been created by Grade 12 students Emilia Tolnai, Madeline Carlson and Kira Nilson, with assistance from the high school’s leadership class.
The mural had been painted in response to the discoveries of unmarked graves at former residential schools.
In late May 2021, the Tk’emlups te Secwépemc First Nation in Kamloops confirmed that the remains of 215 children who were students at the Kamloops Indian Residential School had been found at the school site.
Similar burial sites were found at other residential schools, the bodies found numbering in the thousands across Canada.
The schools were funded by the federal government’s Department of Indian Affairs and were administered by churches.
Tolnai and Nilson repaired the damaged portions of the mural following the vandalism.
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