Brian Tamaki's link to man accused of painting rainbow crossing

Lyric Waiwiri-Smith of

By Lyric Waiwiri-Smith of

A 31-year-old man charged after painting an Auckland rainbow pedestrian crossing white is set to appear in court on Monday.

Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki spoke to media outside the Auckland District Court ahead of his appearance saying he was proud of what the accused had done.

Tamaki said the accused was, Ford O'Connor, who is married to his eldest granddaughter.

Last week, police said they had made an arrest over the act, which they previously were treating as a "hate crime".

Court documents seen by Stuff show the 31-year-old is charged with intentionally damaging the Karangahape Rd rainbow crossing. If convicted the man could face a maximum 3 months imprisonment or a fine of $2000.

A post shared to Reddit around 4am on March 28 showed the road outside St Kevin's Arcade coated in wet white paint.

Police said the crossing had been vandalised around 3.20am.

CCTV from the area showed images of people, who had their faces concealed, that were thought to be involved, along with images of a white car which had its registration plates removed.

The same day the vandalism occurred, police searched a Flat Bush property believed to be linked to the owners of the vehicle.

- This story was first published by Stuff.