Vancouver police are investigating after an apparent act of vandalism at the Russian Community Center in the city’s Kitsilano neighborhood overnight.
The Vancouver Police Department said in a news release Saturday that it had sent investigators to the community center near Arbutus Street and West 4th Avenue after receiving reports that the building had been defaced with blue and yellow paint.
Images from the scene show the paint splattered on the door and the sidewalk, as well as on some of the posters outside the building’s entrance.
There were no written messages visible with the vandalism, but the choice of colors is almost certainly an allusion to the Ukrainian flag.
Russia invaded Ukraine late last month, drawing condemnation from most of the world and prompting significant sanctions from NATO countries, including Canada.
Pro-Ukraine demonstrations have drawn large crowds in cities across BC and across the country.
Some prominent Russian citizens have also condemned the war, and thousands have been arrested at anti-war protests in that country.
Still, Vancouver’s Russian Community Center is not the first building associated with Russia to be defaced in BC since the invasion began.
On Wednesday, red paint was splattered on the door of St. Sophia Orthodox Church in Victoria. The church is a Canadian parish of the Russian Orthodox Church, and Victoria police have said they’re investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.
The Vancouver vandalism likely happened overnight, police said, adding that no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.