Hate graffiti carved into Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

The Ottawa police hate crime unit is looking for a man suspected of carving a message into the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Police said in a news release the suspect rode a bike on Oct. 16 to the downtown National War Memorial, the site of the annual national Remembrance Day ceremony, scratched hate graffiti onto the tomb and rode away.

“We don’t know yet what motivated this person,” said spokesperson Const. Amy Gagnon.

The graffiti was removed within 24 hours, Gagnon said. She declined to describe it in any more detail, other than to say it was an image that targeted a particular group.

The suspect is described by police as Caucasian, wearing a light-coloured sweater and dark pants, tuque and backpack. The bike was something like a mountain bike, they said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact a Hate Crime Investigations Unit detective at 613-236-1222 extension 5453 or to leave an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a grave containing the remains of an unknown Canadian soldier from a cemetery near Vimy Ridge, flown back to Canada and buried again in 2000.

It’s also where Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was standing as an honour guard when he was killed Oct. 22, 2014. The six-year anniversary of that attack was less than a week after this incident.

CBC