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BURLINGTON Two rocks were thrown through the front door of the Pride Center of Vermonts community center on South Champlain Street on Tuesday morning, the Center reported.

Video footage shows that at around midnight, an unknown person walked up to the Center's doorway and threw two rocks through the door before running on foot towards Pine Street.

The Centers physical space closed following the vandalism, but will reopen next week once the safety of the space can be more thoroughly assessed. Property management has responded and has boarded the front door and will be replacing the glass pane in the coming weeks. The door is also being covered by a pride flag.

All virtual events will still occur, and the SafeSpace Anti-Violence support line will remain open as scheduled, unless otherwise noted.

Pride Center of Vermont was established to advance community and the health and safety of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) Vermonters.

Burlington acting Police Chief Jon Murad says officers are investigating the vandalism with an eye toward the very real possibility that it was motivated by malice related to the Pride Center.

Burlington Police say they are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.Police say that when a crime in Vermont is determined to have been maliciously motivated it may be enhanced as a hate crime, the perpetrator can be given additional penalties at sentencing.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said he was troubled to learn about the vandalism.

Our city is using its full resources to investigate who committed this crime and why," Weinberger said in a statement. Acts of hate have no place in Burlington."

This targeted act of intimidation and vandalism is not new to the organization. In 2007, the Pride Center, then located on Elmwood Avenue, experienced several instances of vandalism, including a brick thrown through a front window and graffiti displaying the words Burn in Hell.

In February 2019, the front door was plastered with alt-right propaganda. Since then, the Center has reported a rise in the amount of hateful letters and messages delivered to it's mailbox, increasing in the level of harmful rhetoric and threats. This attack on the Center comes on the heels of an escalated climate of anti-trans violence, including the murder of a community member, Fern Feather.

The Center said it is grateful for and strengthened by the solidarity of the neighborhood, where people informed the Center of the incident, showed up to help sweep broken glass, dropped off flowers and offered their support.

The community is invited to come together in "joy, celebration and resiliency" on Saturday, May 7, for the annual TransPlants Sale & Block Party from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 255 South Champlain Street.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Pride Center vandalized, it's not the first time - Bennington Banner