A Vancouver community is coming together to support an elderly woman after her gift to the neighbourhood was cut down in an “unhinged” act.
Mount Pleasant resident Gisela had recently paid for a free tiny library to be built and placed near the corner of Quebec Street and East 10th Avenue.
However, locals were dismayed when they woke up on Wednesday to find that someone had cut down the new sky-blue wooden display.
A new Free Tiny Library in Mount Pleasant that was paid for by an 87-year-old neighbourhood resident was damaged and cut down after only two days. Video by Jessicka Lynne. pic.twitter.com/ImVLr1RPQE
— Daniel Chai (@IamDanielChai) May 15, 2024
“A very kind 87-year-old woman paid for this wee library…” posted Susan Pearson in the Mount Pleasant Neighbours Facebook group. “She finally had it made and put it up two days ago. Then to come out this morning to find this! Pure evil.
“We have so many wonderful, wonderful people living in our neighbourhood. What is wrong with some folk? I am so disappointed in humans.”
Pearson also added that the perpetrator apparently sawed the library right off at the base and took the metal stand that it was in.
A photo of where the free tiny library was located before it was cut down. (Bob Nichols/Submitted)
Members of the Mount Pleasant Facebook group were equally outraged, calling the act “malevolent” and “sad and awful.”
“I highly recommend that the person who did this seeks counselling from a medical professional. A reaction like this is not healthy,” commented a neighbour.
A note was left on the damaged free tiny library asking a nearby business, The Federal Store, to put the library on its own property. However, the luncheonette and grocer told Daily Hive that it was not involved in its construction.
Susan Pearson/Submitted
“We know the individual that had the library set up and they did it for the community from the kindness of their heart,” Brennan from The Federal Store told Daily Hive in an interview. He says Gisela had it okayed by the city, and she did everything in the right place and the right way.
“Gisela was told that as long as it wasn’t cemented in place, the free library was okay. Whoever did this believes that it was on their property, but it was on the boulevard so that’s City property.”
Brennan added that Gisela is housebound and that the owners of The Federal Store are working on figuring out the best way to get the free tiny library back up as soon as possible. Other residents in Mount Pleasant are doing the same.
Mount Pleasant Neighbours Facebook Group
Daily Hive has reached out to VPD for more information.