On Sunday night, swastikas drawn into the snow on parked cars appeared on Hutchison Street in Outremont, a place many Hasidic Jews call home.
“It was really shocking, distressing and upsetting,” said Outremont resident Jennifer Dorner. “So when I was with my children, we talked a bit about it and decided that we need to counteract this action.”
Dorner and a few others in the neighbourhood decided to sketch their own symbol as a kind of antidote to hate.
They drew hearts on the hoods, windshields and windows of dozens of cars in the area.
READ MORE: Signs with swastikas carved in them removed from Saint-Lazare park
“It’s a very easy and quick symbol to make,” Dorner said.
“It’s a very simple gesture and I think everyone knows what it means, so it communicates to a large part of the population.”
Montreal police confirmed to Global News that officers had been called to the site of the parked cars and an investigation has been opened and handed over to the Hate Crime unit.
On Monday morning, Global News reported that the Côte Saint-Luc swim team has been the target of hate messages.
READ MORE: Côte Saint-Luc swim team target of online hate messages
The messages were found by a parent on the swim team’s online registration page.
Montreal police’s Hate Crime unit is also investigating these messages.