Teepees at First Nations University vandalized

Two teepees at the First Nations University of Canada appear to have been slashed over the weekend.

The teepees were set to come down for maintenance next week. A police report on the matter has been filed.

One of the vandalized teepees has been dismantled, while the other's canvas material has been taken off but the structure remains. The fabric will be assessed to see if it can be stitched back together. The rest are still standing, for now.

Student Troy Isnana said it was a bag of mixed emotions when he saw the vandalism on Sunday.

He posted photos on his Facebook page showing two metre-wide holes cut into one of the teepees located close to the main building.

"It was a bit distressful, I mean, it didn't really come to me as a surprise," he said. 

"Being Regina where there's going to be vandalism or there's going to be parts with racism or discrimination, there's going to be something like that happening here, especially with a First Nations setup."

Bonnie Rockthunder's view from her office looks out onto the teepees. 

"It's very disheartening to see that this has happened," said Rockthunder, a senior analyst at FNUC. 

Rockthunder said students at the school were upset by the vandalism.

"We were very happy and proud to have these teepees in front of our building. We show a lot of pride in that way," she said. 

"If we do install the teepees again in the future, we know that we need to be prepared for possibly something like this happening again."

Despite the disappointment, Rockthunder said she forgives the person or people that were behind the vandalism.

"That's just our way of our traditions and our culture that we've been instilled in growing up, not only myself, but others here at the University," she said. 

"I can say that we would forgive the person for doing that to our community here."