The duo behind a display of Vancouver Canucks playoff pride say they’re heartbroken someone torched their effort to bring the city together.
Earlier this month, the pair — who are operating under the pseudonym “The Superfanz” — decked the city’s A-maze-ing Laughter sculptures in English Bay out with massive Canucks jerseys.
Overnight, someone stole one of the jerseys and set fire to six others.
“It was so fun, people were so engaged and high-fiving us and thanking us for doing it and taking a ton of pictures,” the female half of the Superfanz told Global News of mounting the jerseys.
“So it is very sad to come back and do it the other way,” she added.
“Disappointed,” her male counterpart said. “One person ruins it for everyone else.”
Vancouver police are investigating the incident, and say whoever was responsible could face charges of mischief, arson and theft.
Police first became aware of the situation when photos of the burned jerseys began to appear on social media on Wednesday.
“It’s not only damaged the jerseys, the art,” Sgt. Steve Addison said. “It’s damaged the statues. And these statues are a landmark, they’re a symbol here in Vancouver and they’re a point of pride here.”
The Superfanz are the same duo responsible for adorning the lion statues that guard the Lions Gate Bridge with Canucks jerseys for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
With the team in the second round against the Edmonton Oilers, they said they wanted to up their game with the English Bay display.
“Why not? It’s been a while since we’ve made it to the playoffs. Sports is the one thing that makes you feel like you belong. I came to this country and I became a Cancucks fan and it makes me feel like I am part of the city,” the female Superfan said. “We should be celebrating the fact alone that we are in the playoffs and we made it this far and we have such an awesome team.”
The pair say they hope to be able to repair or replace the giant jerseys, but the display takes a large volume of fabric and they may need to secure more.
They’re also hopeful that a replaced jersey display won’t be damaged again.
If the Canucks are able to dispatch the Oilers and move on to the third round of the playoffs, they say they’ve got an even bigger surprise planned.
“Obviously we have day jobs and we are pretty busy but you’ve got to make time to do things that are fun and get people together and want to walk around and celebrate their city,” the female Superfan said.
For the time being the Superfanz say they plan to stay anonymous because they say the mystery makes the playoff prank more fun for everyone. But they’re not ruling out revealing their identities if the Canucks manage to win the Stanley Cup.
As for what prank they’ll pull if the team makes history by winning the championship?
“We haven’t figured that one out yet, but something,” the male Superfan said. “We’re gonna do something.”
Anyone with information about the damage to the artwork is asked to contact Vancouver police at 604-717-3321.