Toronto police investigating suspected hate-motivated vandalism at synagogue

Vandalism at synagogue

Photo: The Canadian Press

A Toronto Police Service logo patch is shown in Toronto, on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

Toronto police are looking for the public’s help identifying a suspect in a string of alleged hate-motivated vandalism at synagogues in the city’s north end.

Police say a man vandalized signs on the front lawns of three separate synagogues along Bayview Avenue between Finch Avenue East and Lawrence Avenue East last Sunday.

They say the suspect is middle-aged with a medium build, had facial hair and was wearing a dark green sweater, dark-coloured baseball hat and light-coloured pants and drove a grey Ford pickup truck.

Police believe he is the same person involved in a series of suspected hate-motivated vandalism cases last December in the area of Bayview Avenue and York Mills Road.

Police say on Dec. 2 and Dec. 20, a middle-aged man with a medium build and moustache driving a dark grey Ford pickup vandalized signs on the front lawn of a synagogue before fleeing in his vehicle.

Police ask anyone with information to come forward and the investigation is ongoing.