Surrey’s brand new rainbow crosswalk has already been defaced

Surrey’s brand new rainbow Pride crosswalk has been in place for less than two weeks, and appears to have already been defaced.

Twitter user Ginger Gervais was in the area of Old Yale Road and University Drive on Sunday, where she captured an image of the crosswalk splattered with white paint.

Global News has requested comment from both the City of Surrey and the Surrey RCMP.

READ MORE: City of Surrey to install rainbow crosswalk

The crosswalk was installed on June 14, to have it in place for the city’s Pride celebration, which takes place June 30 at Holland Park.

Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner personally advocated for the crosswalk, which was installed with a five-year $8,500 budget for its creation and maintenance.

The crosswalk has faced opposition since it was announced by Hepner earlier this month.

READ MORE: Surrey rainbow crosswalk opponents say it could cost $100,000. That’s wrong

Opponents claimed that the crossing would actually cost as much as $100,000 to install and maintain.

Surrey resident Tanya Gaw started a letter writing campaign opposing the crosswalk, arguing that the crossing would cost $50,000 to install and $50,000 to maintain.

Gaw has been involved with the group Culture Guard. The group claims to stand up for “community values” but has also been labelled a “hate group.”

She said she had spoken to “hundreds” of people about issues including rainbow crosswalks and that “we’re opposed to the agenda of the LGBTQ because they’ve gone beyond what would be reasonable for a group who was just wanting respect to the point where it’s now causing divisiveness.”

-With files from Jesse Fererras