Pro-life group installs surveillance after billboard repeatedly vandalized

Vandals continue to target a pro-life billboard in West Kelowna as the message has upset some and outraged others.

For the third time, someone has taken to the billboard with black spray paint to deface the sign. Owned by The Kelowna Right to Life Society, the billboard along Highway 97 juxtaposes the killing of a puppy as “cruelty” and the unborn baby as a “choice.”

"Obviously, the billboard's message has struck a nerve. In our community, an untold number of people have been complicit or complacent in a past abortion. They are hurting deeply. Unfortunately, at times they can act out in destructive ways directed at anyone or anything that triggers their repressed pain and grief. This is one possible explanation for the re-occurring vandalism of our property," said the Society's Executive Director Marlon Bartram in response.

The day before this latest act of vandalism, the society had cleaned off back swastikas that were spray-painted along the bottom. The society has cleaned up this latest graffiti and has installed a video surveillance system with the hopes of catching the suspect or suspects involved.

"It is a sad statement on the value society places on freedom of speech when we need security measures to protect this most fundamental right, yet here we are," added Bartram.

The billboard has sparked concern among residents as a number of complaints have been forwarded to Advertising Standard Canada (ASC). According to Janet Feasby, vice-president of standards, the ASC received 10 complaints about the billboard. But the complaints did not proceed to the council as there is no issue under the advertising code for adjudication.

The billboard will be up near Grizzly Road and Highway 97 until March 2017.