TORONTO – Police are investigating after the playground of Dennis Flynn Park was vandalized with what they call mischievous, hateful and racist graffiti.
The Etobicoke park is located on The West Mall near Burnhamthorpe Road.
Most of the graffiti is being labeled by police as criminal mischief, including one that reads “Rob Ford smoked crack.”
But police say at least one piece of vandalism is being investigated as “criminal mischief with a hate bias.”
“No more N****rs. No more crime. Kill all Blacks” was written in what appears to be permanent marker across a children’s climbing wall.
The graffiti was written on slides and across the playground and shocked parents and children when they came to play at the park on Monday.
“It’s absolutely disgusting. All the kids from the school come here to play. My six-year-old was reading it,” said Hannah Koliqi, a mother of two.
Koliqi complained to the city of Toronto staff about the graffiti on Monday but was told to call police.
It took close to 48 hours and a subsequent call from Global News for the graffiti to be removed by city officials.
“When there is any message or graffiti vandalism that is either hate citing or racist we have the authority to go in and have it removed right away,” Mark Sraga, director of investigations for the municipal licensing and standards committee said. “This is on city property so city forces go in and remove it as soon as they possibly can.”
The graffiti was removed Thursday morning before police arrived.
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