Students at Medfield High School armed themselves with paint, brushes and rollers Friday, cleaned up the signs of intolerance.
“When we found out it was vandalized everyone was really heartbroken because it was supposed to be a permanent symbol of the club and the school,” said Kayla Scott.
Kayla and students from the school's National Art Honor Society and a student run LGBT support group called Harmony Club had just painted a rainbow crosswalk last month to foster unity and acceptance. June is National Pride Month.
Medfield HS student Harmony club repairing the "rainbow bridge"to Blake Mddl school after Tues vandalism of the crosswalk #Boston25 pic.twitter.com/qwF3pEnHgs
— Bob Murdock (@BROLLBobM) June 23, 2017
Then, vandals damaged the rainbow. A suspect even posted photos on SnapChat, one captioned “see ya rainbow” and another “doing the world a favor.”
“Seeing the hatred toward it gives you seeing you something to work towards,” said Rachel Cohen, a student.
The students believe the vandalism only brought their community together. Parents and children showed early this week to write messages of support.
“I think he will learn from this and hopefully it will help him better about the message the crosswalk is,” said Bethany Doing, Medfield High student.
On Friday, the students used all the colors of the rainbow to paint over the hate and spread their message that love is love.
“Going to keep spreading the message, going to keep working toward unity so that everyone feels safe and included, however that may be,” said Rachel.
Medfield police have identified the two juvenile suspects. They are working with the district attorney to determine the charges they will face.
Cox Media Group