North Dumfries mayor calls vandalism made to Ayr’s sign a wake-up call

The community of Ayr sign was defaced with some racist additions but the region has cleaned that up, restoring it as of Feb. 24, over three weeks from when the it was first told.

An “A” and “B” were added to the Ayr sign, which Rob Deutschmann, the Liberal MPP candidate for Cambridge and North Dumfries said is a clear attempt to spread hate and division after the town has seen an influx of newcomers.

In a media release issued Feb. 24, Deutschmann urged police to launch an investigation and called on the region, as well as the mayor to act.

“We must send a clear message that hate has no place in Ayr or anywhere in our region,” Deutschmann stated. “I call on our community leaders to act swiftly and decisively to address this incident and reaffirm our commitment to inclusivity.”

Since then, CityNews Kitchener has been able to confirm that Deutschmann and his team never filed an official police report.

The Mayor of North Dumfries, Sue Foxton, said she told regional police and counterparts at the Region of Waterloo about it.

“We complained about it to the police and to the region, over three weeks ago, so he drives in and out every single day and he never noticed it, somebody had to point it out to him,” said Foxton. “And then he made this big spiel.”

“The region said they would get at it today,” mentioned Foxton. She added that regional staff told her this morning after she sent another email about talking to the press.

Hopeful it won’t happen again, Foxton doesn’t recall any other times the Ayr sign has been vandalized with racist remarks.

“I still think it’s just kids who think they were being funny,” she said, but Foxton added that it is a wake-up call, about how well they are or aren’t educating children on history.

“None of our ancestors way back were born here, we all came from another country, that’s what makes Canada. That’s’ what created Canada, the coming together of many to make a wonderful country,” said Foxton.

Regional police have confirmed they are now investigating the vandalism made to Ayr’s sign. They also note there were 232 reported graffiti incidents in 2024 and 62 were hate-motivated.