Northern Saskatchewan family's dream home destroyed weeks before holidays

A couple in northern Saskatchewan have been left reeling after their house was seriously vandalized earlier this week.

Ali and Julius Crane have been building a house in the northern Saskatchewan village of Cumberland House for the past two and a half years. They were getting ready to move in this week, when they discovered substantial damage to the house.

"Traumatized. Shocked," said Ali's brother John Desjarlais. "They couldn't believe it."

It was malicious and it was destructive.- John Desjarlais

Damage to the house is substantial. Walls were torn out on the staircase. Kitchen cupboard doors were scratched up. TVs were smashed and ripped up.

"It wasn't a simple break and enter where people took some stuff and left," said Desjarlais. "It was malicious and it was destructive."

The couple could not get approved for a mortgage and spent most of their disposable income on the house. The Crane family spent hundreds of hours working on the house in their spare time.

"It's a small community," said Desjarlais. "You didn't expect anything like this to happen."

The family has set up an online fundraising campaign to repair the home. So far, the site has raised almost $5,000.

RCMP have made an arrest in the case. A 14-year-old boy has been charged with mischief. He will make his next court appearance in February.