A Windsor city councillor says steps are being taken to fix vandalized murals depicting the region's Black history.
Ward 2's Fabio Costante reported on his Facebook page Tuesday afternoon that city administrators met with the murals' artists last week to discuss a game plan for repairing the artwork.
"They discussed how to approach the restoration of the mural panels, including updates to wording and better protections moving forward. The parties are working together to restore the murals in the near future," wrote Costante.
Further details were not provided.
Costante was first alerted to the vandalism on the night of April 29. Someone had splashed blue paint on the mural of Windsor police officer Harold Watkins, who was the city's first Black police constable and one of Canada's first Black detectives.
Someone had also tagged the words "Hi Gramma" on the plywood that usually supports a French mural, which Costante said is currently in storage.
Initial attempts by the city's parks and recreation department to clean up the mess were unsuccessful, resulting in the artists being contacted.
Watkins' name is misspelled on his mural, but it appears to be more of a production error, rather than vandalism.
Windsor police are investigating the incident. Anyone with information to share, or security camera footage from the neighbourhood on April 29, is asked to give investigators a call at (519) 255-6700, ext. 4343, or ext. 4000 after hours. Anonymous tips may be submitted to Crime Stoppers.
