This week has gotten much better for the Penticton Legion

PENTICTON – Volunteers and patrons found something unexpected on the outer walls of the local legion Wednesday afternoon—no more graffiti.

Earlier in the week, possibly Saturday night, vandals made their scribbles on the Martin Street home of the Penticton branch of the Royal Canadian Legion—huge blue and green tags. Legion vice-president Ivo Jaager says it shows disrespect to veterans and members who frequent the club.

"It’s sad that a building like ours would be targeted. It seems these people don’t have any respect for anything,” he says. “To not have any respect for the people who have defended this country is not a very good sign.”

But it appears now some “amazing mystery citizens” did their part by scrubbing “till their fingers were blue,” says volunteer Barbara Coburn-Jaager. It wasn’t immediately clear who did the good deed.

While this story ended well, local businessman Leigh Follestad says many people in town are getting fed up. He started a Facebook page with others hoping to co-operate and find solutions.

“There is spreading awareness of the problem. People want to help,” Follestad says. “Awareness and acknowledgement are the first steps towards resolving the graffiti problem in Penticton.”

Follestad urges victims of graffiti to file a report with police.

"One case doesn’t do very much. One hundred cases will attract attention,” he said.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.