Islamic Centre of Cambridge thankful for community support after hate-motivated graffiti left on building
Waterloo regional police launch investigation into hate-motivated graffiti
The chairperson of the Islamic Centre of Cambridge says they are thankful for the support people have shown to them in light of a police investigation into graffiti on the centre's building.
"This was a very small incident, someone marking a cross on the exit pillars. This is the first incident since we started work here during the 1980s," Mohammad Darr said in an email to CBC News.
"We are so fortunate to have so much community support."
Police said they were called on Monday afternoon to the building in the area of Dunbar and Hespeler roads in Cambridge.
"The graffiti included hate-motivated symbols," police said in a release.
It's believed the graffiti was put on the building between 8 p.m. on Sunday and 4 p.m. on Monday.
The graffiti was condemned by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as "alarming, abhorrent, and unacceptable" in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday.
The vandalism at the Islamic Centre of Cambridge – and the rise in Islamophobia across the country – is alarming, abhorrent, and unacceptable.<br><br>I strongly condemn this incident and stand with Muslim communities against such hate. We must confront and combat Islamophobia together.
—@JustinTrudeauFederal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh also posted about the "unacceptable" graffiti on X.
"The rise in Islamophobia is deeply troubling - it must be confronted at every instance," Singh's post said.
This is horrifying.<br><br>The hate-motivated graffiti found at the Islamic Centre of Cambridge this week is unacceptable.<br><br>The rise in Islamophobia is deeply troubling - it must be confronted at every instance.<br><br>Hate has no place anywhere in our country.<a href="https://t.co/2WcqvaqSq0">https://t.co/2WcqvaqSq0</a>
—@theJagmeetSinghCambridge Mayor Jan Liggett also released a statement, saying the city has to "deal with common graffiti on a fairly regular basis."
But, Liggett said, on Monday, "a different type of graffiti was found marking one of our deeply valued cultural and religious institutions."
"Cambridge is our home and when something happens to a member of our family it affects the whole family," Liggett said. "These actions, whether done as a prank or coming from an origin rooted in a darker place, do not represent Cambridge, our residents nor the spirit of this community."