The Coquitlam RCMP is investigating after racist graffiti was sprayed on the outside walls of Hillcrest middle school over the weekend.
A nearby resident noticed the graffiti Sunday morning while she was walking her dog and notified police.
Const. Mike Halewood said the detachment's hate crimes unit is involved in the investigation and some evidence has been seized at the scene.
"This is not something you see a lot," he told The Tri-City News. "You don't often hear of this kind of thing in the Coquitlam area... Some of the words written were pretty vulgar."
Derogatory comments about black people and Jewish people were sprayed on the walls of one of the portable classrooms. The graffiti also included a swastika and several crudely drawn images of a sexual nature.
Jason Hewlett, vice-principal at Hillcrest, said he was impressed by how quickly the graffiti was cleaned up by district maintenance staff. School officials saw the graffiti Monday morning and he said by 2 p.m. it was covered.
He added that the size and nature of the tags meant staff had to be quick in covering up the graffiti.
"If we get minor graffiti, like the name of somebody or just silly stuff, our response is much less," he said. "With something like [the recent incident] it is handled right away."
School staff, he said, do not suspect that a student was responsible for the weekend's vandalism. For now, teachers are downplaying the incident in the classroom, but Hewlett said that if future acts of vandalism occur school staff will discuss the issue with students.
The Coquitlam RCMP said anyone with any information should contact police by calling 604-945-1550 and quote file number 12-11250.
gmckenna@tricitynews.com
