A mural of Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg in Edmonton, Canada, was defaced with a slur and pro-oil messages over the weekend, according to the CBC.
One man who defaced the mural, James Bagnell, spray-painted “Stop the Lies. This is Oil Country!!!” over Thunberg’s face, according to the news outlet. He told the CBC he was moved to spray the message after seeing images of the mural painted on a downtown “free wall.”
{mosads}”I think it’s absolutely intolerant of them to tell us how to change our lives and our people. She should go back to her country and try to make her country better,” Bagnell told CBC, telling Thunberg to “shut up until you have solutions.”
Another man, who declined to be interviewed, later spray-painted an unspecified derogatory term on the mural.
Local artist AJA Louden, who painted the mural, told CBC he was not surprised or disappointed by the vandalism.
“Nothing lasts forever — one of my favorite things about that wall is that anyone is allowed to express themselves there, so I’m not upset at all. I haven’t seen what went over it, but if anyone is upset about what was painted over the portrait, they can just paint back over it, it’s not a big deal at all,” Louden wrote.
Thunberg visited Edmonton on Friday as part of a climate march and rally at the Alberta Legislature, after which she travelled to Fort McMurray to meet with leaders of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and the Mikisew Cree First Nation, according to CBC.