Just days after the death of former Premier Peter Lougheed, a group of vandals have damaged the estate of his grandfather, Sir James Alexander Lougheed.
Staff members say the home was targeted sometime between 10:00 p.m. Saturday and 8:00 a.m. Sunday.
They say the vandals managed to climb up to the second storey of the historic estate in Calgary’s Beltline and tag the sloping metal roof of the secondary tower with graffiti.
They also spray painted a chimney and an east-facing sandstone wall.
Lougheed House was built in 1891 and was originally know as ‘Beaulieu”. At the time, it was considered a hub of social activity for the city's elite.
It is owned by the province and operated by the Lougheed House Conservation Society, and independent, non-profit society devoted to the restoration and public enjoyment of the historic house and its gardens.
The province designated the home a Provincial Historic Resource in 1976 and the Historical Society of Alberta researched the possibility of restoring the home in 1988.
Lougheed House was declared a National Historic Site in 1995 and opened as a Public Heritage Center in 2005.
The home still flies the Union Jack to honour its heritage and there is a flag raising ceremony on July 24 of every year to replace the flag.
Police say there were three distinct tags used on the house; two of which they have seen before.
The penalty for defacing a historic site under the Protection of Historic Sites Act could be as high as $50,000.
