A Campbellford artist celebrated for his design of the toonie has drawn the ire of his community after he erected a 5-metre cross on his lawn and hung a noose from the top.

Brent Townsend knows the display is especially controversial in a town that gained notoriety last Halloween when a Ku Klux Klan getup won first place in a costume contest.

But the 48-year-old wildlife artist, who created the cross out of old barn beams, said it’s his last resort in a four-year battle with the municipality over the planned construction of a bridge. His home is slated for demolition.

“I’m not trying to stoke racial fires ... It’s a symbol of mistreatment,” Townsend told the Star on Saturday. “It’s not a hate crime. If anything it’s a hate crime against me. I’ve been a victim.”

Campbellford resident Troy Varty said it was “bad enough” when one man dressed in a white cloak and draped in the Confederate flag led another in blackface through a party at the Legion with a noose last Halloween. The duo won first place in the costume contest.

The combination of the noose and the cross is especially offensive so close to Easter, Varty said.

“A noose represents hatred — a symbol of death through intimidation, fear, control and degradation of the heart and the soul,” Varty said. “Everyone who I have talked about it to is very upset and all say the same thing — that, yes, it should be taken down. There are many churches in the area.”

Hector MacMillan, the mayor of Trent Hills, which includes Campbellford, said upwards of 100 town residents have expressed their concern to him.

“I just can’t believe this is happening,” MacMillan said, adding he’s “absolutely disgusted.”

Town staff searched for a bylaw that would force Townsend to take down the cross within hours of it going up, MacMillian said. The incident was turned over to the Ontario Provincial Police when no bylaw was found.

The OPP have received complaints “from neighbours that are upset” but the matter has been referred back to the Campbellford bylaw department, said Const. Peter Leon. The display of a cross and noose is not a hate crime, he added.

“It’s obviously his property to do as he wishes. There’s no basis for a criminal investigation,” Leon said.

Property standards bylaws fall short, MacMillan said, because they typically deal with issues like lawn maintenance.

“That’s the sad part of it, something that has offended so many people in the community, that we don’t have a law or a bylaw that covers this type of thing,” MacMillan said.

The controversial display has been up for five days across the street from the Canadian Tire where Renee Fairman works.

“With everything that has happened in our town at Halloween and the controversy, to do something like this is ridiculous,” Fairman said. “I’m not keen on it.”

Townsend is originally from Scarborough but has been living in Campbellford, about 180 kilometres northeast of Toronto, since 1996. He was pleased when the town put up an 8-metre metal toonie in a local park to honour his polar bear design.

“I was fine with that. I thought, if the town wants to create a tourist attraction, and want to have a symbol, that’s great,” Townsend said.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Now Townsend has put up his own symbol — one that he hopes will grab the municipal government’s attention.

“Some people might find that image disturbing — I find it disturbing — but the idea is to be thought-provoking,” he said. “It was out of sheer desperation for the way I have been treated that I chose a very edgy subject.”

With files from Carys Mills

Read more about: