The City of 麻豆精选 took swift action in addressing hate-motivated graffiti discovered Tuesday on the Rutland Arena, and the RCMP have a pair of suspects on camera.
A message directed at Indo-Canadians was spray-painted across the outside wall of the arena, at 645 Dodd Road.
Andrew Schwerdtfeger, roadways operations manager with the city, said, 鈥淲hen hate-motivated graffiti is discovered, our team responds promptly upon notification.鈥�
Schwerdtfeger added that incidents, such as the graffiti discovered on Aug. 19, are reported through the city鈥檚 internal security system. According to Schwerdtfeger, this particular case will be 鈥渋nvestigated and checked for available security footage.鈥�
A photo of the hate-motivated graffiti was shared on the Facebook group 麻豆精选 Alert, garnering more than 200 comments in under 10 hours, which caught the attention of city councillor Mohini Singh, causing her distress and disappointment.
鈥淭his is just terrible, and there is no place for it in our community,鈥� Singh said.
Singh thought that perhaps it could have been a group of kids who spray-painted the words.
鈥淭his is still terrible; there is no place in 麻豆精选 for language like this. We are a multi-cultural society,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e need to embrace all cultures. This is very wrong. What is this supposed to achieve?鈥�
麻豆精选 RCMP are looking for two suspects caught on camera spray painting the arena.
Police said in a release two men were observed on surveillance footage spray painting the building around 12:30 a.m. on Aug. 17.
The first suspect is described as a Caucasian male and was seen wearing green camo print pants, a black jacket, a grey T-shirt, a grey and purple baseball cap with white writing, and boots.
The second suspect is described as a Caucasian male with a brown beard and moustache. He was seen wearing grey pants, a red hoodie with white writing, red running shoes, and a grey and black baseball cap. The suspect was also riding a gold and black mountain bike.
Police responded immediately with an investigation into the "hateful and discriminatory" graffiti.
鈥淭his type of vandalism undermines the safety and inclusivity we strive for in our community,鈥� said Cpl. Allison Konsmo, Media Relations Officer with the 麻豆精选 RCMP. 鈥淲e are committed to identifying those involved and ensuring they are held accountable.鈥�
Anyone with information regarding the graffiti or on the suspects is asked to contact 麻豆精选 RCMP or Crime Stoppers.
This story has been updated with comments from 麻豆精选 RCMP.
