'I was gutted': Rainbow sidewalk in front of central Alberta church vandalized
Police are investigating after the United Church in Ponoka was vandalized on Thursday.
Mounties say someone threw eggs and splattered tar and an unknown substance on the rainbow sidewalk leading to the church.
"I was gutted, shattered, just really demoralized," said Jessica Jones of the Ponoka Pride Society.
Members of the church congregation first painted the steps in 2020, to show solidarity with the LGBTQ2S+ community.
Graham Boys of the church said he's disappointed someone would vandalize the steps, particularly during Pride month.
"I'm glad that the people who did this, targeted us, and not an actual at-risk person because sidewalks can be repainted," he told CTV News Edmonton.
On Friday, community members came out to clean and repaint the sidewalk.
Community members clean and repaint the rainbow sidewalk in front of the United Church in Ponoka after it was vandalized. (Nav Sangha/CTV News Edmonton)
"Our community comes together. It always has, and we have a supportive and inclusive community," Jones said.
Recently elected Lacombe-Ponoka MLA Jennifer Johnson was invited to help repaint the steps.
Johnson made headlines during the election campaign after a video surfaced of her comparing trans children to feces in food.
Jones said she wanted to give Johnson the opportunity to show her support.
"I think she's scared, and she's scared to show her face around these issues because she needed to distance herself from them."
Johnson did not appear on Friday while the steps were repainted.
Jones said her comments only encourage this type of vandalism.
"When a leader elicits hate, I think certain things like this will happen."
In the wake of the incident, the Ponoka Pride Society has announced its hosting a Pride in the Park event on June 10 from 12 to 4 p.m. at Centennial Park in Ponoka.
Anyone with information about the vandalism is asked to call Ponoka RCMP at 403-783-4471 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Ponoka is about 100 kilometres south of Edmonton.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
2 military horses that broke free and ran loose across London are in serious condition
Two military horses that bolted and ran miles through the streets of London after being spooked by construction noise and tossing their riders were in a serious condition and required operations, a British government official said Thursday.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.