A gurdwara in Canada has been spray-painted with “racist” graffiti and profanity by some unidentified persons, prompting police to probe the incident as a hate crime, a media report said.
The graffiti was visible at around six locations in and around the building of the gurdwara situated in 81st Street in Calgary city of Alberta Province. Police said a graffiti coordinator and a hate crime coordinator have been called in to investigate the vandalism, Calgary Herald reported on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the World Sikh Organisation (WSO) of Canada condemned the “racist vandalism” of the Sikh Society of Calgary that took place early on Thursday morning and asked community members to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activity around gurdwaras to the authorities.
“The racist graffiti included a swastika and profanity,” the organisation said.
WSO vice-president for Alberta, and Calgary resident, Tejinder Singh Sidhu said, “While we are saddened to see the racist vandalism of the Sikh Society of Calgary, it comes at a time when we are seeing racist, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic vandalism in several places across Canada”.
“These deplorable acts are motivated by ignorance and all Canadians must stand in solidarity to ensure that racist and discriminatory rhetoric is loudly rejected,” Mr. Sidhu said in a statement.
In January last year, a gurdwara in Edmonton was spray-painted with racist graffiti and earlier this year, racist, anti-Sikh posters were posted at the University of Alberta, WSO said.
