Vacant shop vandalized and covered with graffiti in Mississauga

Graffiti was spray-painted over a closed convenience store in a Mississauga neighbourhood.

The store at 1254 Alexandra Ave. in Lakeview has huge red spray-painted graffiti on it this week. The shop was a convenience store until around a year ago when it was shut down.

There are reports a new owner has been trying to renovate and open a new store. But in the meantime, ugly graffiti has marred the exterior. Windows are also broken.

The words “Kill Your Local Pedophile” with an anarchy symbol were scrawled in red along one side of the store. The phrase is also written on the front and reportedly on other places in the area.

Peel Regional Police tell insauga.com that there haven’t been any reports about the graffiti. It has been reported to the city.

But several residents took to social media to express concerns.

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“The graffiti and tagging in the area is out of control,” one person wrote on the Port Credit and Lakeview Facebook group.

“This is awful,” another wrote.

Similar graffiti was also spotted on a speed camera just down the street on Atwater.

It’s unclear if the graffiti refers to a sex offender living in the area. The only offender released recently appears to be Joseph Faulkner, 30, who was convicted of several sexual offences and was released on April 2, police said.

Faulkner was not, however, living in Lakeview. Police reported he moved to the Dundas Street and Confederation Parkway area.

Kill Your Local Pedophile is a song released in 2021 by Mark Martin. It also appears to be a phrase used recently by far-right extremists. And it appears to date back much further, popularized on bumper stickers about 10 years ago.

People can report graffiti online, through the City of Mississauga website. The city will remove graffiti on municipal property but the property owner is responsible for removing it on private property.