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Another Langley school hit by graffitti

Much of the exterior of Simonds was covered with spray-painted comments
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Someone applied graffiti to Simonds and Alice Brown schools in Langley sometime between Saturday night, Aug. 8, 2020 and Sunday morning (Victoria Hachulla/special to Langley Advance Times)

Somewhere between Saturday night and Sunday morning Aug. 9, someone covered most of the exterior walls at Simonds Elementary school in Langley with spray-painted graffiti.

It was discovered by a local resident walking a dog in the area near the school, who took to social media to decry the “mindless and destructive” behavior.

Simonds, which is located at 20190 48 Ave., is a Langley School District K-12 School.

A statement issued by the district on Sunday said the graffiti “included tagging and some profanity on the exterior walls of Simonds Elementary and U-Connect.”

Similar graffiti was found at Alice Brown Elementary.

District staff will begin covering the markings on Monday, the statement went on to say.

“Staff will be investigating as well as checking other school sites for similar incidents. As in past years, the schools will be following up with conversations about code of conduct and respectful behaviour with students in September.”

“The District does not tolerate this type of incident. This graffiti does not reflect the two school communities.”

Unlike a previous incident last month in Aldergrove, the graffiti did not appear to be obviously racist.

READ ALSO: Vandals deface Aldergrove elementary school with racist slur, male genitalia

In the Aldergrove incident, which took place over the weekend of July 4 and 5, vandals defaced North Otter Elementary School with graffiti that included the N-word, as well as paintings and words that made reference to male genitalia.

The drawings appeared to be autographed by a “Big Jim” and included a few symbols that appeared to be mushrooms.

READ ALSO: Langley schools maintenance chief combats vandalism

It’s been estimated the Langley school district spends as much as $170,000 every year to repair petty acts of sabotage, or about one per cent of the annual maintenance budget.

Langley does, however, appear spend less than other such as neighboring Surrey, which is larger and spends as much as $750,000 a year on glass breakage, graffiti and wire theft.



dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com

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Dan Ferguson

About the Author: Dan Ferguson

Best recognized for my resemblance to St. Nick, I’m the guy you’ll often see out at community events and happenings around town.
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