A memorial outside the apartment of Christina Yuna Lee, the victim of a recent stabbing in Chinatown, was destroyed overnight, ABC7 reported on Wednesday.
The memorial was left by mourners who attended a vigil held on February 14th in honor of Lee. A video from ABC7 shows people leaving bouquets of flowers and taping signs to a tree near Lee’s apartment, while local community leaders spoke about the increased fear Asian Americans faced in the midst of a spike in anti-Asian hate.
However, Brian Chin, the landlord of the building Lee lived in, woke the next morning to find that the memorial had been decimated, leaving shattered glass, torn signs, and flowers strewn across the sidewalk.
“The candles that we have all lit as a community for her during the vigil and we all left out here were smashed,” Chin told the New York Post. “The ‘Stop Asian Hate’ sign was torn. One sign was ripped up. I threw it away.”
The senseless vandalism left Chin shocked and furious.
“They try to desecrate [Lee] as much as they could,” Chin said. “We as a community are beyond fed up, we are beyond angry and we are tired of being attacked.”
“We are tired of seeing this hatred and we are not going to stand for it anymore.”
Local residents such as Wai Fun Tso, who has lived in Chinatown for twenty years, were also angered by the memorial’s destruction.
“This is racism against Asians. I can feel it,” Tso told the Post. He added: “I feel sad. I am upset. Don’t touch it. Leave it alone. Let her rest in peace.”
However, in a display of solidarity the local community rallied to preserve Lee’s memory. They helped Chin clean the debris and reconstruct the memorial, replenishing the flowers, prayers, and signs left for her.
“We retaped the signs to the trees, we wrote new messages, we replaced candles, we placed more flowers,” Chin said.
Community leaders, such as Chinatown Business District director Wellington Chen, also rallied to support the memorial. A picture posted on Twitter by the Chinatown Business District, for instance, shows Chen applying clear tape to a paper sign on the tree where the memorial is.
“What struck me as I was standing there, there’s school kids coming in rows passing by,” Chen said to Newsweek, according to MSN. “And I’m thinking, how the hell can you set an example to the future generation…that even when you are killed, that there [are] people who cannot stand the kindness, the empathy, that they still have to keep on attacking and destroying,”
“You don’t desecrate a memorial like this … on top of this horrific event, that’s the last thing we need,” he said to the Post.
However, the support and solidarity shown by the local community was a ray of hope for Chin, providing reassurance that the community would fight for her.
“It’s beautiful to see a community care so much about a woman that did not deserve this,” Chin said to ABC7.
“The community won’t let her spirit be torn down, her memory torn down so easily.”
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