Toronto police investigate arson of signs, one in front of synagogue

A pair of arsons of signs, including one in front of a synagogue, are being investigated by the Toronto Police Service as suspected hate-motivated, the Canadian law enforcement agency said in a statement on Friday.

The Bayview Avenue and Ruddington Drive area arsons, which the police believe are related, are suspected as "hate-motivated" because of the content of the signs and because one of them was placed on the property of a synagogue.

The first arson was conducted last Friday morning when a suspect approached the sign, lit it on fire, and fled the area. On Sunday, before the sunrise, a person in a vehicle approached a sign and set it on fire.

Police posted a security camera video of the incident but little of the incident itself could be seen.

Synagogue vandalism sparks outrage

Toronto saw the vandalism of a synagogue in the Bayview Avenue area on April 19. A window of the Kehillat Shaarei Torah synagogue was smashed.

Toronto city councillor James Pasternak condemned the incident and assured that police were investigating the act of vandalism.

Bnai Brith Canada on Facebook called for Canadian leaders to act against incitement.

"It is heart breaking to think that antisemitism has become so normalized that a synagogue can be so blatantly targeted," said the NGO. " Acts of vandalism like this are the bottom of the slippery slope. They do not occur at random, rather they are the result of the emboldening silence on the part of our authorities."