Sign promoting NWT Pride festival vandalized

Less than 12 hours after it was put up, a sign promoting next weekend's NWT Pride festival was vandalized.

Iman Kassam, a board member and long-time festival organizer, says she and two others put up the sign near Franklin Avenue and Forrest Drive at around 9 p.m. Wednesday night.

By Thursday morning, its stand was broken and someone had moved the sign, which Kassam estimates weighs about 68 kilograms, about nine metres away from the street to face into the bushes.

"This was definitely deliberate," Kassam said. "I don't know who would do something like this."

RCMP are looking into the incident. There was a broken golf club by the vandalized sign Thursday afternoon. 

It's not clear if it was directed at NWT Pride or if it was random vandalism.

Regardless, Jackie Siegel, president of NWT Pride, says he's disappointed.

"I don't know if they were just waiting for this to happen or it was just a vandalism of convenience," Siegel said.

"But it's a shame that people think it's OK to destroy property and especially property that is displaying something good for the community."

Kassam says Folk on the Rocks owns the sign's stand, which was completely broken.  

Another sign by the Explorer Hotel was placed face down with its sandbags on top of it. 

NWT Pride organizers hope to fix the sign on Franklin soon, in time for the festival, which takes place at the Folk on the Rocks beer garden site Aug. 4 to 6.