The owners of Constant Collectibles received a photo from a neighbour showing vulgar words and images spraypainted on the front of the small shop.
Mykala Constantinescu, who owns the shop along with her dad, said they have never had anything like this at the store.
“We’ve had a few instances of shoplifting but other than that, everybody’s been great,” she said. “We have great neighbours.”
The store at 20457 Douglas Cres. opened last April and while there has been a few instances of shoplifting and the occasional person visible high on drugs, there’s never been vandalism.
Downtown was hit over the weekend. The snowman created for the Magic of Christmas event Saturday evening in McBurney Plaza was vandalized and spraypainted. There was also new spraypainting on nearby walls.
“It was not there Saturday morning,” resident Duane Stammers said about the McBurney Lane damage.
“That’s sad, such nice people that own it,” he said of the collectible store that was also vandalized.
The vandalism is in the alley between Fraser Highway’s one-way section and Douglas Crescent. Someone also has strewn garbage from business dumpsters.
Teri James, executive director of the Downtown Langley Business Association, said she hasn’t seen vandalism like this in many years.
“It seemed like vandalism was at an all-time low,” she said.
She walked the area Monday morning to see the scope of the damage.
“It’s really unfortunate,” James said.
She encouraged anyone whose property has been vandalized to contact the police. Even if the perpetrators are not caught, it’s important the police know about the incidents so they can track problems and targeted areas.
“It’s essential to report it,” she explained.
PHOTO: The snowman as it looked on the evening of Dec. 3. (Matthew Claxton/Langley Advance)
PHOTO: Graffiti was painted on walls near McBurney Plaza. (Heather Colpitts/Langley Advance)