An activist group opposed to old growth logging in B.C. says it has been spray-painting Vancouver tourist attractions and landmarks as an act of civil disobedience.
The Save Old Growth group said targets have included the Gastown steam clock, artist Douglas Coupland’s Digital Orca sculpture, the Olympic torch, Science World and the CBC’s offices.
The group, which distributed a photo of the steam clock covered with slogans, said it painted the messages as a reminder of what it called the B.C. government’s “broken promises” on logging.
This day 25 years ago, along with other @Greenpeace activists, I stood with the Nuxalk First Nation & was arrested by Canadian police after a 19 day blockade preventing logging of old growth temperate rainforest in B.C.
The #GreatBearRainforest is now protected. #ActivismWorks pic.twitter.com/4Z4oahNfbw— Cllr. Cristíona Kiely (@Cristiona_Kiely) June 24, 2022
Constable Tania Visintin said in a statement that Vancouver police are “investigating the mischief to the steam clock.”
Save Old Growth said its actions coincided with Overshoot Day, which is designed to mark the date when humanity has used up all biological resources the planet is capable of regenerating each year.
A blockade put up by activists who say they are fighting to save old growth forests on Vancouver Island will be allowed to continue for another three weeks.
The B.C. Supreme Court granted a three-week adjournment for the protesters’ legal team to build their defense. pic.twitter.com/DXjwGOS1Pu
— APTN News (@APTNNews) March 6, 2021
The group was previously behind road blockades, but said at the end of June it would “de-escalate” such actions and instead turn to other tactics.
Those road blockades saw dozens of people arrested and triggered major traffic disruptions in Vancouver and elsewhere.