Team members found a sign destroyed and a padlock on the main gate on December 27.
It was the fifth time the garden was vandalized last year.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been repeatedly vandalized," said volunteer William Dirks. "Chopping down the vegetables, spray painting the signs, breaking things.鈥�
In a statement, Centro Del Pueblo said, "The impact of locking us out physically has been a recurrent practice of hostility against immigrants. Closing the border, closing the access to health care, education, labor rights, and in this occasion our own project."
This garden was created by Centro Del Pueblo in 2021 to provide a safe space for migrant families. Dirks said many community members bring seeds from their home countries to grow.
鈥淭hey bring seeds from all over the world to this garden so they can have a little bit of their heritage and their culture and feel comfortable in this space," he said. "Where they can grow food and eat food that鈥檚 appropriate to them.鈥�
Dirks said the Arcata police are investigating these incidents as hate crimes, but they have no concrete leads.
Centro Del Pueblo is raising money to install security cameras at the garden to prevent future vandalism.
They hope to have those extra measures finished in the spring.
