Two men being sought by police are seen running from the scene of a Vancouver assault. (Vancouver Police Department)Vancouver police have released pictures of two men running from an assault on a gay couple — an attack police say is being investigated as a hate crime.

The pictures were taken by a security camera near a Keefer Street building where two area residents were beaten up June 12 after they asked two men to stop urinating outside the victims' home.

The two men responded by assaulting the couple while shouting anti-gay slurs, the victims told police. David Holtzman and his partner Peter Reiger were treated in hospital for cuts and bruises.

Vancouver police Chief Jim Chu appealed on Friday to anyone who might recognize the men in the photographs to call investigators.

"When a case involves hate bias, it not only victimizes the two people involved in the case, but it also victimizes a whole community," Chu told reporters at a news conference.

Victim blames sports event

The surveillance images are from a security camera just steps from the scene of the assaults.

"People just shouldn't get beat up downtown for no reason," said Holtzman.

Holtzman also said he believed the attacks were related to an Ultimate Fighting Championship that ended at GM Place downtown just a short time before the assaults. The highly popular sport involves men engaging in no-holds-barred fighting in a cage.

Police would like to hear from anyone who believes they recognize either of these men. (Vancouver Police Department)

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson should consider the safety of citizens before allowing more UFC events in the city, Holtzman said.

Robertson, who attended the Friday news conference with Chu, would not commit to any decision regarding the controversial sport.

"That is a two-year trial for [ultimate fighting] and we want to see how it goes — what positive and negative impacts it may have for the city."

With files from the CBC's Belle Puri