High River Pride crosswalk vandalized within hours of being painted

The new rainbow-coloured Pride crosswalk in downtown High River has already been vandalized.

The Pride crosswalk was vandalized with someone 'burning out' on it.

Founder and Director Halle Minkler says the crosswalk was painted Saturday morning and was vandalized later that night.

The Pride crosswalk was vandalized with someone 'burning out' on it.

"The crosswalk was vandalized within hours of it being painted. Someone burned out on it within five to ten hours it was vandalized. Which we were kind of prepared for hence why we budgeted for maintenance costs in our grant application. And that in combination with the weather kind of wore it down so we are working with the Town currently to have a little paint party and repaint it and allow the crosswalk a little bit more time to cure when it's nice outside."

The rain also affected the paint as it washed away a lot of it before it could dry.

Minkler says the day was such a success they won't let it put a damper on it.

"So, we're just going to keep coming back and letting people know we're part of your community too and we're here to stay. And the crosswalk is a permanent installation as well... it was very disappointing, not unexpected but we're still going to be here, we're still going to repaint, and we'll do it as many times as necessary."

The Pride crosswalk being painted by volunteers. (Photo supplied)

The day itself was extremely positive for the 50 to 60 people who showed up to help paint the crosswalk.

Photo from the High River Pride Facebook page.

"It was an incredible day. So many people showed up and it was mostly families, there was a Spider-Man costume, there was a rainbow tutu, there were some really cool outfits there. The youngest person I saw was probably 3 and the oldest person I saw was 93."

There was also a celebration in George Lane Park in the early afternoon complete with vendors and entertainment.

The celebration continued at George Lane Park. (Photo supplied)

"It was also really amazing. I would say about 40 people showed up for that and what was cool about that is that since it was in the park people that were already at the park stopped in, so the vendors were really happy. So, we had three vendors and then one of them was a non-profit as well so four all together. They made a good amount of money and all the vendors actually donated a portion of their proceeds to our organization which was wonderful. And one of them actually made stickers with the crosswalk on it. That was really cool. We had some crafts going on too. We had some little flag making and bracelet making and we had some snacks, outdoor games, some music. There was just lots of great conversation going on as well, lots of people getting to connect which was kind of the goal here."

Minkler added that they're working with the town of High River to see if they can repaint the crosswalk this upcoming weekend.

The Pride crosswalk is on 5th Avenue SE located midway between Macleod Trail and 1st Street SE across from The Venue.