Photo: The Canadian Press A Vancouver Police Department patch is displayed on an officer’s uniform in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, BC Vancouver police say they have identified the suspects who poured maple syrup on an Emily Carr painting and stuck it to a wall at the Vancouver Art Gallery over the weekend. Sgt. Steve Addison says an investigation is underway and officers will talk to witnesses, review security video and assess the cost of the damage. The Vancouver Art Gallery said in a statement that Carr’s painting “Stumps and Sky” suffered no permanent damage. It quotes director and CEO Anthony Kiendl as saying that the gallery “condemns acts of vandalism” to works of cultural importance in its care or any museum. Kiendl says the gallery supports free expression, but not at the expense of suppressing other people’s ideas and artistic expression or preventing people from accessing those ideas. Don Marshall, spokesman for the environmental group Stop Fracking Around, says the protest was intended to focus public attention on the climate emergency. Addison says once police have completed gathering evidence, it will go to the Crown attorney for review and approval of charges.
