York Regional Police are investigating after the phrase “Hitler was right!” was spray painted on a concrete barrier near Vaughan Mills mall.
The hateful message was found near an off-ramp in the area around Bass Pro Mills Drive and Highway 400 on Friday.
The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center For Holocaust Studies (FSWC) said it reported the graffiti to police and the city’s mayor, and the vandalism was cleaned up on Friday.
In a short video from the scene, FSWC president Avi Benlolo called the graffiti “incredible and nasty.”
“There is an incredible amount… of anti-Semitism here in our community, here in our province in Ontario, Canada,” he said.
“And again, we’re asking the government, we’re asking the Attorney General of Ontario to please take these matters seriously, prosecute hate crime and deal with it.”
In a statement, York police said it doesn’t tolerate hate crime in any form.
“These kinds of crimes not only hurt the community that has been targeted, but they hurt us all.”
York Regional Police is asking anyone with information or dash cam video to contact investigators or Crime Stoppers.