Families 'devastated' after memorial crosses outside Barton jail vandalized
'We’re going to put them back in whether people like it or not,' says Amy McKechnie
Family members whose loved ones died at the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre (HWDC) are "devastated" after crosses they planted outside the jail were damaged.
Photos of the memorial taken on Monday show nearly all 15 of the crosses representing inmates who died of overdoses had been knocked flat or were dislodged.
Several were smashed into pieces, the ribbons and other mementos wrapped around them left lying on the ground. One ended up stuck in a tree, hanging several feet off the ground.
"They were broken and scattered around," said Amy McKechnie, whose brother Ryan died at Barton jail in 2017.
"We're all angry and devastated. Why now and what's [the] motive behind it?" she wondered.
The families found out about the destruction on August 31 — International Overdose Awareness Day — a date McKechnie said made the vandalism even more painful.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of the Solicitor General said it's investigating what happened.
The crosses were pounded into place in April 2019 to memorialize those who died and to call for change to the corrections system as the number of overdoses and fatalities at the jail continued to climb.
Each was hand-painted and bore the name of an inmate who had died there since 2012.
"They're there to memorialize the people who died. Leave them alone." said McKechnie, adding some families go to the jail quite often to visit the crosses remember their loved ones.
"Whoever did this, maybe you had an issue with some of these people, but it's their family that's left here grieving and that's part of why those were there," she added.
It's not the first time the crosses have been targeted.
At least one of them has gone missing before, according to McKechnie.
A series of Kijiji ads also went up shortly after the crosses did, pretending to sell them as firewood or Halloween decorations and offering extra to see them burn.
On Monday night only one cross was still standing.
Some ragged holes, a broken bit of wooden stake and imprints in the grass were all that remained of the others.
McKechnie said one of the families collected the broken pieces and took them home to be repaired. When the ground is soft enough they plan to erect the crosses again.
"They're going back in," she said. "We're going to put them back whether people like it or not."
