A flowerbed resembling the Progress Pride flag was destroyed in the city of Ballarat, Australia, in what the mayor has called a malicious act targeting the LGBTQ+ community. The flowerbed was meant to be displayed through June for the citys Pride Month festivities.The flowerbed, situated near the citys Titanic Memorial Bandstand commemorating the musicians lost in the Titanic shipwreck of 1912, was vandalized sometime during the early morning hours of June 23. Photos from The Star Observer showed that someone had torn up the flowerbed, ruining its rainbow flag design. Related A vandal ripped down 10 neighbors Pride flags. Now the locals are fighting back. Camera footage caught the vandal. But the neighbors have responded in a surprising way. In a statement, Mayor Cr Tracey Hargreaves wrote, Vandalism of any type is strongly condemned, but even more so when it maliciously targets individuals and community groups. Its very disappointing to see such narrow-mindedness from a small minority of people. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today he City of Ballarats Parks and Garden crew work incredibly hard to create these beautiful spaces and its a shame that a few can ruin it for the Ballarat community, Hargreaves statement continued.The mayor noted that the display will need to br removed as its impossible to quickly replace the flowers in their required colors.The flowers were specially cultivated for this display since January, the mayor wrote, urging anyone with information about the vandalism to report it to the Victoria Police.The mayor said that, despite the vandalism, the city remains committed to ensuring members of the LGBTIQA+ communities feel safe in Ballarat and most importantly, to feel they belong.Despite the vandalism, the city will still host over 40 Pride Month events, including art exhibitions, workshops, social events, coffee meet-ups, markets, drag bingo, parties, and much more, the aforementioned publication noted. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ballarat Pride (@cityofballaratpride)This past year has seen numerous cases of vandalism against rainbow Pride flags and LGBTQ+ sites.In early June, police in State College, Pennsylvania arrested 27-year-old Markos Bejiga for allegedly lighting a churchs Pride flag on fire and trying to burn others while shouting anti-LGBTQ+ slurs at passers-by. He now faces five criminal charges, though the churchs lead pastor offered the vandal mercy and forgiveness.In mid-June, California police apprehended a man caught in the act of vandalizing the Pink Triangle, San Franciscos annual and iconic Pride Month commemoration atop Twin Peaks. In January, a man who used his truck to deface a rainbow-colored intersection dedicated to the victims of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting was fined nearly $6,000 in damages to the city of Delray Beach, Florida. His own friends helped police identify and arrest him.In the U.S., conservative Republicans have increasingly sought laws and policies that ban the rainbow Pride flag on government property, calling such displays divisive and a form of indoctrination.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.