Manitoba

Racist, anti-Semitic graffiti spray painted on two Brandon schools

Police are searching for a lone male they allege targeted Linden Lanes and Vincent Massey schools in Brandon.

Police searching for lone male they say targeted Linden Lanes and Vincent Massey schools on Saturday

Brandon Police have released this photo of a person that was captured on school video surveillance. Police believe the suspect was acting alone when they sprayed anti-semitic and racist graffiti on two schools in the city. (Provided/Brandon Police Service)

Two Brandon schools have been targeted with anti-Semitic and racist graffiti including the N-word, according to police.

Video surveillance shows a man spray painting the exteriors of Linden Lanes School and Vincent Massey High School between 4:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. on June 15.

Staff sergeant Guy Roberts said the graffiti included anti-Semitic comments and logos, hateful and vulgar comments, along with racial slurs including the N-word.

"It's shocking, and it's disgusting, and it's something that has no place in today's society. But unfortunately there's people that will feel that they need to spread hate in this fashion," he said.

Roberts said the school division is still working on getting the large amount of graffiti cleaned up.

"They were trying to get that done yesterday," Roberts said.

"There was school staff on site, and they were calling, trying to find a pressure washer or somebody with equipment to come over and take it down right away. I guess that didn't happen."

Roberts says these sort of acts are rare in Brandon, but concerning.

Graffiti at the main entrance of Vincent Massey High School. The majority of the graffiti was cleaned up by Sunday afternoon, but some still remains. Police say the person spray-painted racist and anti-Semitic words on the exteriors of two schools. (Riley Laychuk/CBC)

According to police, the suspect appeared to be alone when he used blue, black, and white spray paint to vandalize the exteriors of the two schools.

He appears to be in his teens or early 20s, according to police.

Video surveillance shows him wearing a black or navy sweater or track jacket with a hood, that had two red or orange stripes going down each sleeve and along the seams of the torso.

The man was also wearing a black baseball hat with a red peak, and a black bandana over his face. He was also carrying a black backpack with orange writing on the front.

Police say they haven't identified any suspects at this point, and are asking anyone with information to contact them or crime stoppers.