COVID-19 hoax graffiti sprayed on 2 sides of Kelowna city hall

The Kelowna RCMPisinvestigating after someone sprayed graffiti withCOVID-19 hoax messages on two sides of city hall Tuesday morning.

The graffiti is in the form of phrases about the pandemic, including criticism of government measures to control the spread of the disease.

"This behaviour is criminal and we will be following all leads to determine who did this graffiti,"saidCpl. Jocelyn Noseworthy of the Kelowna RCMP.

On Tuesday afternoon, City of Kelowna staff worked to remove it.

Mayor Colin Basrancalled the incident disappointingand saidit could cost thousands of dollars to remove.

"Certainly, people are entitled to their right to protest, but this goes beyond that. I mean this is breaking the law," he said."It's unfortunate that people have to go to that extent to get a point across."

Basran said targetingthe Kelowna city hall building is also misguided, as municipal governments are not responsible forpandemic restrictions.

"It also costs the taxpayers thousands of dollars. So I think everyone should be unhappy about it," he said.

The RCMP is asking anyone with information about the graffiti to call the Kelowna detachment or the Crime Stoppers tip line.