After the gates closed for the night at Acadia Park in Lower Sackville, N.S., a gazebo, bench, and fountain were vandalized. “Monday night… somebody came in and vandalized our gazebo here, painted all over it. Graffiti – mostly bad words,” says Linda Hefler, director and treasurer of Acadia Recreation Club Society. Red paint was used to mark the wooden structure and granite benches, which Hefler says were donated. “Two memorial seats that were put in by a past member who just passed away a month ago, and it was for his wife, and it had red paint all over it,” Hefler says. She says the society is glad they could remove the paint from the granite. “But again, the black paint and the red paint on the gazebo just won’t come off,” she adds. She suspects the person or people responsible for the damages jumped the fence at nightfall. The group has filed a police report and is gathering volunteers to re-paint the gazebo on Tuesday. “But if the fountain is ruined, that is going to take us a lot of money to replace that inside liner and the spigots,” says Hefler, noting they were likely trying to access the copper. Monday’s incident is not the first time vandals struck the park. In July, the Acadia Park and Community Centre announced it would start closing its gate at 9 p.m., citing vandalism and safety concerns. They have a member who patrols the park before closing, and a few security cameras set up, too. “But naturally, hoodies cover faces so it’s very difficult to get a good picture,” says Hefler. “We are going to be putting some more cameras up and around and probably in hidden areas so that people don’t see them. Maybe that will help us in the long run.” The park is not owned by the Halifax Regional Municipality, it’s owned, operated and maintained by volunteers. “It is a challenge for us,” says Hefler. “Anybody that wants to help us do garbage, wants to help us weed, even patrol at night. Everything would help us.” She calls Acadia Park a true community build, and notes how frustrating the vandalism is. “Every bench, every picnic table, most of the trees have all been donated by a business, by a person, in memory of someone,” she says. “We get a lot of support from the community and we’re very proud of that.” With files from CTV News Atlantic’s Callum Smith For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
