Vandals have struck in Summerland once again, this time leaving their mark on a newly constructed pier.

On the morning of Aug. 22, spray-painted graffiti tags were found sprayed near the end of the pier at Rotary Beach.

The pier officially opened on July 11, and was constructed as a replacement for an older pier at the same site. The project had come in under its budgeted cost of $800,000, with core funding from the $4.53 million the municipality received from the province鈥檚 Growing Communities Fund.

Graham Statt, chief administrative officer for Summerland, said the community has experienced other incidents of vandalism this summer.

On July 9, the municipality reported mischief in Giant鈥檚 Head Mountain Park. Damage was observed on many of the new posts and ropes installed in the park to mark the sanctioned trails and restrict areas of environmental rehabilitation.

There were also reports of damages to safety road posts in the park.

Then, on Aug. 7, damage was reported at a display structure near the Trout Creek trestle bridge.

Flowers had been pulled from a planter and small red-painted rocks had been scattered.

The latches on two portable toilets had been pried off and a hand sanitizer dispenser was ripped off.

鈥淭hese are issues of nuisance that were conducted by the few,鈥� Statt said, adding that the vandalism affects the entire community.

There is a financial cost involved in repainting the damage at the pier and repairing damage in other areas.

More importantly, cleaning up the vandalism affects other work within the community.

鈥淭his is the busiest time of year for us with delivering on our projects,鈥� Statt said. Having staff members working to clean up vandalism takes time and staff resources away from other work in the community, he added.

The Summerland RCMP detachment is investigating these incidents of vandalism. 

Anyone with information about vandalism is asked to contact the Summerland RCMP detachment at 250-494-7416 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).