HANTSPORT, N.S. – Paul Morton, organizer of the Hantsport Winter Carnival and West Hants councillor said the event might need to be put on hold if vandalism continues.
A pile of discarded Christmas trees, which were collected for the carnival's annual bon fire, were partially destroyed after they were lit on fire while on Hantsport Memorial Community Centre grounds.
“I was told that somebody burned the trees last night around 11:30 p.m.,” Morton said. “Apparently somebody called it in, they saw who did it, but don’t know who it was.”
“A third of the trees are gone, so we’re still going to try to make it happen,” he added.
In a Facebook post, where Morton mentions the incident, many residents in the area volunteered more trees as replacements.
However, Morton said he’s concerned that the fire-starters would come back.
“If we build an igloo next week, what are they going to do to that?” he said.
Morton said this isn’t the first time the HMCC grounds have been vandalized in the past month, with individuals recently driving through the ball field with a car, among other incidents.
Morton said the RCMP is well aware of the incident and that they were at the scene on Jan. 13.
The RCMP were unavailable for comment as of press time.
The Hantsport Winter Carnival is slated for Jan. 25 - 28, 2018.
