Vandals armed with spray paint — and apparently little knowledge of Canadian politics — struck the campaign headquarters of a London Liberal candidate in the federal election over the weekend.

London North Centre candidate Peter Fragiskatos arrived at his East London office Saturday morning to find the building coated in graffiti.

Red spray paint covered the front windows and both sides of the building at 884 Adelaide St. N. One of Fragiskatos’ signs was also defaced.

Though much of the graffiti is illegible, one phrase scrawled on the single-storey building’s north side was clear: “Down with Harper,” it said.

Perhaps whomever scrawled the slogan isn’t aware Stephen Harper is the leader of the federal Conservative party?

Or, maybe it was an attempt to be ironic?

Whatever the reason, Fragiskatos wasn’t laughing.

“Respect is at the base of every democracy. Without respect, a democracy can’t function, and this is very disrespectful of the process,” said Fragiskatos, adding time and money will have to be diverted to get rid of the graffiti.

Fragiskatos’ camp estimates the damage at $5,000.

“We’re going to stay positive and we’re going to move forward,” Fragiskatos said.

Fragiskatos, a political-science professor at King’s University College, is one of five candidates vying for the hotly contested London North Centre seat held in the last Parliament by Conservative Susan Truppe, who defeated Liberal Glen Pearson in the 2011 election.

Both Truppe and Carol Dyck, the Green party candidate for the riding, took to Twitter over the weekend to condemn the vandalism.

A property damage report was filed, said London police Const. Amy Phillipo, but there aren’t any suspects in the case.

dale.carruthers@sunmedia.ca

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