Samuel de Champlain statue vandalized within hours of resurrection

Ontario Provincial Police responded to a disturbance in Couchiching Beach Park after a woman allegedly vandalized the newly resurrected Samuel de Champlain monument, hours after it went up in Orillia, Ont., on May 21, 2026. (Courtesy: Connor Earl Productions)

Just hours after the Samuel de Champlain statue was reinstalled at Orillia’s Couchiching Beach Park, police were called to the site following an alleged act of vandalism that sparked tensions surrounding the controversial monument.

On Thursday crowds gathered to witness the City of Orillia resurrect the bronze figure of Champlain.

Later that same day, in the wake of the monument’s return, police say a woman was arrested for vandalizing it.

In 2017, the statue and others around it were removed from the park for restoration. Following public outcry, including pushback from members of the First Nations community about how it depicted Champlain and how the other statues depicted Indigenous peoples, the monuments were put in storage.

In April, city council voted against a motion to bring back a redesign of the statue. At that time, the statue was being stored in Etobicoke and Orillia Mayor Don McIsaac claimed it would not return to the city.

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According to a council information package released Thursday, the statue was brought back to its original location to avoid the cost of having to build a new foundation to carry it.

Due to the statue’s size and weight, building a new foundation elsewhere would have created additional expenses. Returning it to its original base was described by the city as the most practical option and one that aligns with its anticipated long-term location.

The information package claims protective measures such as shrink wrap and tarping were arranged for to preserve the statue.

In 2018, Orillia created the Samuel de Champlain Monument Working Group.

In the group’s final report, part of the council information package, the group claims more than 1,000 people responded to an online survey about what they prefer to happen with the statue.

The group claims 70 per cent of voters chose to see the statue return, with updated interpretation material.

In its recommendations, the working group said in part to bring the statue back and develop additional signage created with participation from First Nations representatives that tells “a historically accurate story of Samuel de Champlain and his relationship with First Nations.”

OPP charged a 33-year-old female from Orillia with mischief, in relation the alleged vandalism incident on Thursday.

As of Friday, the statue remains it its original spot, covered by a tarp surrounded by a fence.