Hamilton, Ontario Mayor Fred Eisenberger says black tire marks on a local rainbow gay pride crosswalk may actually count as “vandalism.” No joke.
The city painted several rainbow crosswalks on a few busy streets on August 2 in support of gay pride. Since then, the paint on the pavement has become tarnished with tire marks – as pavement that’s constantly being run over by traffic tends to do.
But according to the mayor, the tire marks may actually constitute vandalism if it can be proven that drivers were intentionally spinning their tires on the rainbow to mess it up…or something. (Apparently, there’s nothing else going on in Hamilton that deserves his attention. Must be nice.)
The Hamilton Spectator reports:
Mayor Fred Eisenberger said there is some debate among staff as to whether the marks were made on purpose or are a normal occurrence of rubber wearing off tires on hot pavement in the dead of summer.
"I'm suspicious," he said. "Just the way it (the marking) sits there. It's odd that it's just before and after the crosswalk (and into the crossing)."
The mayor’s office says they’re suspicious haven’t seen the same kinds of markings on regular white-painted crosswalks.
Eisenberger said some staff think the marks may be due to this summer's hot weather, but he noted that he hasn't seen the same kind of tire impressions on white crosswalk markings.
"I suspect it's willful ... but at this point, we'll fix it and see what happens."
For now, Hamilton city officials say they plan to touch up the rainbow street murals with new paint to repair the…um, damage.