Vandals cut down pair of Pride flags in Delhi

The flagpole at Delhi Secondary School is in pieces after vandals cut down the school's Pride flag early Sunday morning. But principal Stephen Wills says the school's spirit of inclusion is intact.

Over the weekend, our school flagpole flying the Pride flag was cut down in an act of vandalism. Let me be clear: whoever did this, you have failed," Wills posted to Twitter on Monday.

A flagpole is only a thing and can be fixed. Our commitment to inclusion, equity, and providing a safe space for all is unbreakable."

Police say two male suspects were caught on video surveillance using a power tool to cut down the metal flagpole outside the school around 3 a.m.

About 25 minutes earlier, police say the same suspects cut down a flagpole and Pride flag at another address in town.

One suspect is described as white with a slender build and dark hair. Police say he was wearing glasses, a camo T-shirt with an off-colour pocket, and light-coloured shorts. A neck gator partially obscured his face.

After cutting down the flagpole outside the high school, police say the suspects ran down the south side of the building on Connaught Avenue and hopped in their getaway car parked by the football field.

They were last seen heading north on Churchill Avenue.

Anyone with information about this vandalism is asked to contact Norfolk County OPP or Crime Stoppers.

These are not the first Pride flags in Haldimand-Norfolk to be targeted this year.

Flags were taken from two addresses in Dunnville - including the high school - earlier this month. And in late April, a Pride flag was stolen from outside the front entrance of Waterford District High School two days after it was placed there in a first for the rural high school.

The Pride flag at WDHS was quickly replaced and now flutters next to the Canadian and Haudenosaunee Confederacy flags.

J.P. Antonacci's reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. The funding allows him to report on stories about the regions of Haldimand and Norfolk.