Toronto police investigate antisemitic graffiti in front of east-end church
Graffiti found on sidewalk in front of Toronto United Mennonite Church in The Beach
Toronto police say they are investigating "allegedly antisemitic" graffiti found on a sidewalk in front of a church in The Beach.
The graffiti was scrawled outside Toronto United Mennonite Church, located at 1774 Queen St E., east of Kingston Road. Police received a report about it at about 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
"It was allegedly antisemitic. It's been covered up," said Const. Shannon Eames, spokesperson for Toronto police.
Eames declined to describe the graffiti.
Michael Levitt, president and CEO of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, a non-profit human rights organization committed to countering racism and antisemitism, said in an email on Tuesday that the graffiti is disturbing.
"At a time of surging antisemitism in Toronto and across the country, it's very disturbing to once again see such hateful graffiti targeting the Jewish community," he said.
"This kind of rhetoric that promotes anti-Jewish sentiment has no place in this city or anywhere else," Levitt continued.
"We are hopeful Toronto police will find the perpetrator and ensure they face consequences for their actions."