Hundreds of Newmarket citizens expressed outrage on social media after vandals damaged planters on Newmarket's Main Street early today.
Newmarket Mayor John Taylor confirmed 16 planters were hit during the morning and the municipality has reported the incident to York Regional Police. A post in a local Facebook group highlighting the incident garnered more than 500 reactions and 300 comments.
Taylor said he is disappointed in the act, considering the efforts so many business owners and town staff put into beautifying Main Street.
“It makes me very angry. There are so many people who put so much work into their business downtown, and our staff take great pride in those planters,” Taylor said. “For somebody to do something like this, it disgusts me.”
Town staff quickly cleaned up and repaired the planters, Taylor said, after the vandals threw the planters onto the sidewalk and street.
Jay Kyle, the person who photographed the incident and posted the photographs, said he has sympathy for the staff.
“As a former parks department employee, I know what an effort it takes to grow, move and maintain all the plants on Main Street,” he commented on Facebook. “I feel for (town horticulturist) Johnny (Dwyer), the man behind all the hard work it takes to make these pots.”
Dozens commented about the incident and expressed that they want to see the vandals caught.
“This is sickening,” one person wrote. “Those beautiful planters bring joy to so many. As a gardener, I appreciate the work that goes into growing and maintaining them. How disheartening for our town staff to see this.”
Taylor said planters have occasionally been damaged in the past, but never to this extent where the municipality chose to get the police involved. He said they hope police can find the perpetrators, as they did when the downtown was getting tagged with graffiti in the past.
“We want whoever did this to know there’s consequences to this type of behaviour,” Taylor said. “We’ll be seeking a good investigation into this to try and identify who it is.”
Taylor said coming out of the pandemic, the community does not have much tolerance for “nonsense like this.”
"We know it's one of the best downtowns in Ontario and Canada, and we're proud of it," Taylor said. "I'm glad people are upset. It shows their pride."
