Rock sailboat vandalized with graffiti
Date: 2007-06-18
Author: Mary Riley


Marina McLennan says she knows that not all kids are vandals.
But, she also believes that tired kids don't get into trouble.
"If they were handed a rake and told to get to work in the yard, they'd be too tired to be destroying things," she said. "A lot of them have too much time on their hands."
Ms McLennan stood beside the limestone rock sailboat at the boat launch in Fenelon Falls on Friday.
She pointed to the red graffiti sprayed on one of the sails.
"It's just awful," she said. "And, they sprayed all the kids' animal rides at Garnet Graham Park, too."
The sailboat, installed last fall, was funded by the Powerlinks committee, which works through the City of Kawartha Lakes to administer money it receives from the Consolidated Hydro Power Plant for community projects.
The sailboat project, begun in 2005, was a way to welcome boaters to Fenelon Falls as they enter the lock, she said.
"There was nothing telling boaters they were in Fenelon Falls."
The committee consulted quarries until they found the perfect limestone, and craftsman Brian Jackett cut the hull and sails from the stone using a method that's 100 years old.
It was installed at the launch along with spotlights and a landscaped garden.
Ms McLennan said the vandalism happened sometime during the night of June 12.
"I was here on Monday, and came down again on Wednesday morning, and it had been sprayed," she said. "I talked to people who came along and saw it, and they were furious."
At 10 p.m. on Thursday, the spotlight on the sailboat revealed the red paint in glaring detail.
By 8 a.m. on Friday, when Ms McLennan spoke to This Week, one of the letters showed was faded enough to suggest someone had tried to erase it overnight.
"I don't know why they destroy someone else's hard work. But, it looks like somebody has tried to get the paint off," she said.
Ms McLennan said she talked to Kawartha Lakes OPP about the vandalism. But, she insisted police can't be expected to deal with such crimes alone.
"This is a massive area we live in," she said. "We can't possibly expect the police to be everywhere, or sit back and complain they aren't doing anything. It's up to parents to know where their kids are and what they're doing. Or, people who know whose doing this should report it. Call Crime Stoppers - it's anonymous.
"It's up to us to take back our town."
Ms McLennan, a sixth-generation Fenelon Falls resident, said people have to do more to help stop crime in their own communities.
"We have break-ins, flower beds ripped apart, windows smashed," she said. "But, we also have 6,000 pairs of eyes here. I think a lot of people just aren't observant of what's going on around them. And, we can't complain about kids getting into trouble if we don't hire them for a job and give them something to do."
Later on Friday, Ms McLennan reported she had found someone who is able to remove the graffiti from the sailboat.
"We were worried we were going to have to have it sandblasted," she said. "Which would have been very expensive."