Employees at Peterborough’s Sadleir House say they were shocked to find that two of the building’s offices had been broken into over the long weekend.
The Peterborough Police Service said the alleged break-ins occurred at the offices belonging to the Trent Queer Collective and the Community Race Relations Committee. These incidents appear to have taken place sometime between the afternoon of Saturday and noon on Monday, police said.
A lock box containing $100 in cash — money that was raised at a drag show event in the spring — was allegedly stolen from the Trent Queer Collective office. While nothing was reported stolen from the Community Race Relations Committee, police estimated the damage to both offices at between $500 and $1,000.
The Peterborough Police Service is now investigating the incident.
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Charmaine Magumbe, chair of the Community Race Relations Committee, said this wasn’t the first time the office has been targeted. A few months ago, someone kicked down the door and stole more than $200 from the office, Magumbe said.
Sadleir House hosts a variety of community group offices and student spaces. Both Magumbe and members of the Trent Queer Collective suspect this was a “hate crime” because of the specific offices that were targeted.
“They targeted only two offices. There are many clubs and associations that are in the building, and they targeted ours: Community Race Relations and the Trent Queer Collective,” Magumbe said.
“As a person of colour, it was very upsetting to know that there are people in the community that have that much hate to come and vandalize our office,” Magumbe added.
Police said it’s too early to tell what the motive might have been.
Anyone with information is urged to contact police at 705-876-1122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.