Street art vandalism on bus shelters in Guelph prompts police investigation, response from Mayor

Police are investigating after bus stops in Guelph were transformed into billboards on Valentine’s Day, their advertising was removed and replaced with politically motivated messaging.

According to Guelph Transit, their team spent Wednesday and Thursday monitoring transit routes looking for shelter locations that were involved in the placement of ‘unsanctioned street art posters’.

They said approximately 60 to 70 shelters had unauthorized messaging placed in them, adding that the advertisement panels as well as the existing advertisements were damaged.

The messaging placed in the shelters depicts a Palestinian flag, with its red triangle transformed into a red heart, dripping with red paint.

Various messages were then applied to each flag, including ‘Valentime to Free Palestine’ and ‘Intifada’, an Arabic word meaning ‘uprising’.

A street artist operating under the pseudonym Lionel designed the piece for the group ShowUpGuelph, which was later recreated by volunteers to promote their cause and raise awareness for the ongoing situation overseas.

Police are treating the incident as vandalism, asking the public to contact them with information identifying the perpetrators.

Lionel said he disagreed with the vandalism label.

“I think that’s silly,” said Lionel. “There was about an 85 per cent vacancy rate in these bus stop ads. They’re all empty. All these volunteers did was install pieces of paper in the very place pieces of paper are installed.”

Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie took to social media condemning the actions of the group, stating that taxpayers will have to pay thousands of dollars to fix the shelters and added that the messaging on the posters was upsetting to members of the local Jewish community.

Lionel said he doesn’t believe the act caused any significant damage to the shelters.

“I think if you take out a screw, open a door, close the door, and replace a screw, I can’t imagine the thousands of dollars in damage that represents,” said Lionel. “I think that’s just some kind of a scare tactic.” 

In a post on Instagram, ShowUpGuelph said the posters were put up with the aim of ‘redirecting Valentine’s Day away from commercialized festivities towards a more profound contemplation, embracing empathy, compassion, and solidarity with oppressed communities’.

Guelph police issued an updated statement on the vandalism investigation on Friday.

“The Guelph Police Service is committed to protecting the Charter rights of our citizens,” read the media release. “As we seek to ensure the safety of our community, any criminal acts of mischief, vandalism and the wilful promotion of hatred will be investigated accordingly.”

Anyone with more information on the incident is asked to call Guelph police at 519-824-1212, ext. 7552, or leave an anonymous message for Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at www.csgw.tips.