Vancouver police are investigating after more than a dozen Xtra newspaper boxes were targeted by vandals over the holidays.
Fourteen boxes containing the gay and lesbian paper were damaged between Dec. 25 and 29, primarily downtown on Robson, Denman, Hornby, Beach and Burrard streets. In most cases, the glass on the front of the box was damaged and the papers stolen.
Gareth Kirkby, senior manager of Xtra publisher Pink Triangle Press, said he's concerned the vandalism represents a threat to the LGBT community.
"They're not taking out an anger against Xtra," Kirkby said. "There's something about our community that's being targeted here. I worry about an escalation."
In 2005, a number of Xtra newspaper boxes were spray painted with derogatory slurs and screwed shut. Kirkby says the culprit was caught just in time.
"The person was a danger to the gay community and also to himself," he said. "He was very quickly falling apart and spoke of how his God was telling him that gay people need to be eliminated."
Kirkby said some of the boxes vandalized in Vancouver were missing a component that he estimated would take "a rage, or a lot of strength" to rip out.
Const. Jana McGuinness said police have not identified a suspect or motive but are hoping surveillance video will shed light on the case.
McGuinness added it was too early to say whether the vandalism was fueled by homophobic hatred.
"Investigators from the VPD Hate Crime Unit are looking into that possibility as no other adjacent newspaper boxes were targeted," she said in a release.
Anyone with information is asked to call Vancouver police at 604-717-3321 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
