UBC pride flag burned during OUTweek

The University of British Columbia's pride flag has been burned, say campus officials.

The flag was raised last Friday as part of the UBC Pride Collective's OUTweek activities and was discovered missing on Tuesday morning.

"We're feeling pretty overwhelmed and we got a bit concerned about the safety of our members," said Elliott Cordingley, a coordinator with the group. 

Cordingley said a member of the collective alerted campus officials, who then contacted RCMP. It was then determined the flag had been burned over the Family Day long weekend. 

Campus security and RCMP are investigating the incident, UBC said in a written statement. 

"UBC condemns this incident as an act of hate and in contravention of the values of equity, inclusion and respect deeply held by the university community," wrote the university.

Cordingley said it's not clear what the motivation was behind the flag's destruction — his group hasn't been in touch directly with RCMP. All the same, he said a parade in support of transgendered people scheduled for Wednesday has been cancelled as a precaution. 

"There's a lot of violence in the world against trans people and a lot of marginalization and oppression against trans people," he said. 

Other activities planned for the week will proceed, with some extra security precautions. 

"We're in conversation about reraising the flag later in the year, but now we just want to focus on safety and healing and carrying out the rest of our OUTweek events," Cordingley said. 

Cordingley said the university and the school's Alma Mater Society have been supportive and have spoken out against the incident. 

He said there haven't been any other threats or incidents of violence directed at the group or its activities. 

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact campus security or RCMP.