Trudeau 'appalled and disgusted' at anti-Semitic graffiti found in North York park

Member of Parliament for York Centre Ya'ara Saks posted this photograph of anti-Semitic graffiti found on two chairs at Downsview Park.

TORONTO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took to social media on Thursday to say he is “appalled and disgusted” at anti-Semitic graffiti found at a park in North York.

The graffiti was first brought to light by Ya'ara Saks, Member of Parliament for York Centre.

Saks posted a photograph on social media of two red Muskoka chairs at Downsview Park, located near Sheppard Avenue and Keele Street, emblazoned with black spray-painted swastikas.

“I’m extremely disheartened and angry to see these symbols of hate and antisemitism in my own neighbourhood, right in the centre of our community,” she wrote on Twitter. “Hate has no place here, or anywhere else in Canada.”

“This must stop.”

It does not appear as though Saks took the photographs herself. CTV News TOronto has reached out to her office, as well as Toronto police, for more information.

The tweet was then shared by the prime minister and mentioned in his Friday address alongside another hateful incident in Edmonton involving graffiti painted on a mosque.

“Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia have no place in our communities, and hatred and discrimination of any kind have no place in our country,” Trudeau said.

He went further on social media, addressing the Jewish community in York Centre, and across Canada, directly.

“Know that we will continue to stand with you against this hate. We will not tolerate it and we will work with you to end it.”