In the summer of 2022, blue spray-painted hearts began to appear at the end of Wiggins Road in Tlell. I had to look up that date and am mildly shocked it’s been two and a half years since these started to appear. Amazing how we become accustomed to things over time.
In April 2023, I and some other concerned citizens spray-painted over the hearts and removed what we could. In less than a week, I would slam on my brakes at Wiggins, my mouth wide open, spewing utterances not fit for a family newspaper. The hearts were back… as ugly and blue as ever.
Being a modern woman who loves watching spy dramas, I quickly loaded up the Drive BC road camera that looks at that area. I watched the last 24 hours, as you can, and lo and behold, between 8:21 a.m. and 8:36 a.m., the culprit had struck again. That’s the time between when that camera takes a still photo; their timing was impeccable.
A plea on Facebook for any information garnered theories but no answers, and more hearts appeared. There seemed to be an effort to make them more heart-like, perhaps a response to my comment that they had no artistic value.
Back then, we thought there might be some connection with the hearts and a spray-painted message on Wiggins Road itself that read “Lisa I still love you.” An investigation into who Lisa was or could be led nowhere.
New, different hearts also started to appear. These ones were white, down near the Anvil Trail parking. At one point, the concrete barrier they adorned fell into the ocean, much to my relief, but O’Brien’s just hauled it back up.
Last year, this copycat Heartist started to paint those white, and then some red, hearts on the south end of the riprap where the blue hearts dominate the north end. They now seem to be courting each other.
One also appeared at the end of Beitush Road, definitely feeling personal.
What is going on here? And why do I hate these hearts so much? Do I, as one individual suggested, hate love?
A conversation at a party the other night gave me a lead. A reliable source thought they knew who it was and they named names. They said they had seen them doing it.
I contacted this someone and asked them to tell me why—they told me they were not painting the hearts, they were painting over them. They’d done so three times, and each time the hearts returned like they did when we first removed them.
The story tracks but leads us no closer to answers.
The hearts are on man-made things—the riprap, the concrete dividers—that are not exactly beautiful, so why care? I’m not entirely against graffiti, and clearly enjoy littering hippos all over Tlell, but these hearts are just … ugly.
Sure, we could argue that the white and red hearts (I’m feeling like they are done by a woman) are a better artistic representation of love than the blue and green logging spray-painted hearts (which feels rather masculine).
But they are still just graffiti, and I want them gone. As President of Tlell (Okay, just of the Tlell Community Association, a minor distinction), I feel it’s my duty to put a stop to this vandalizing.
So to the Heartists, whoever you (both) are, I want to know why—why do you feel the need to do this? Send me an anonymous message. Everyone—send me your tips, theories, and feelings on the matter! Let’s beautify the riprap once again! Restore it to its dull grey glory! Hearts be gone! #hipposnothearts