Police in London, Ont., are searching for a man in connection with a theft and arson at a North London residence over the weekend that they are treating as a hate-motivated attack.
Investigators say a man showed up on foot at a home in the area of Wateroak Drive around 9:30 p.m. on June 8 and left a short time later carrying some items he took from the front yard of the residence.
Police say the same man then returned to the home around 10:30 p.m. and allegedly started a fire on the front porch before leaving.
Fire crews were able to extinguish the blaze and no injuries were reported. However, the fire caused approximately $30,000 in damage to the home.
The man is described as 30 to 50 years of age with a medium to heavy build. He was last seen wearing grey shoes, dark pants, a light grey zip-up sweater with vertical black accents on the sides under the arms, a dark-coloured toque, and a medical mask.
Det. Insp. Alex Krygsman said police are treating this as a hate-motivated incident.
“We are aware of several other incidents that occurred at the same residence since the first week of May regarding property damage, theft of signs, a threatening note that was left,” he said. “The signs were signs that expressed support for Palestine.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) called out the attack as Islamophobic.
NCCM officials say they plan to speak further this afternoon on the arson incident and what they say is a “pattern of Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism in the city and beyond.”