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SALMON ARM - Police believe a case of racist graffiti in Salmon Arm is an isolated incident in an otherwise welcoming and open-minded community.

The graffiti was painted on a fence beside a walking trail and contained racist speech directed at Islamic Muslims. 

Sgt. Scott West says while there has been no official report made to police regarding the incident, officers will be contacting the City of Salmon Arm to get photos and information about the graffiti, which has already been cleaned up.

“Certainly any time a group of people are the target of this type of activity, we investigate these things,” West says.

He is not aware of any other incidents of racist graffiti or hate crimes in Salmon Arm, and believes this is an isolated incident.

“The greater part of the community, in my experience, is accepting of persons of diverse race and ethnic origin, and I have seen, in my time here, no systemic issues with respect to incidents like this,” West says.

Police don’t treat all cases of graffiti so seriously, but West says the fact it contained hate speech makes it more troubling.

“Most definitely, given the certain climate with the contentious issues occurring overseas,” he says.

Salmon Arm is host to seven Syrian refugee families, with 32 individuals overall. Brian Ayotte, with the Salmon Arm Refugee Coalition, found the graffiti upsetting but says it is not representative of how most residents feel.

“It’s one individual. Knowing where it was done and looking at the handwriting, I suspect maybe a young person, a teenager. Maybe an angry person. Maybe someone riding on the coattails of the U.S. election,” Ayotte says.

He’s aware of only one other similar case — a report of someone driving around with an anti-Muslim sign in their truck. He believes the anti-immigrant statements expressed during the U.S. presidential election may have spurred the recent case of graffiti, which follows other incidents across the country. Earlier this month, Jewish instititions as well as a mosque and a church with a black pastor in Ottawa were were vandalized with swastikas and hateful graffiti. 

“It (U.S. election) seems to gave given this element of our community some license to speak out. But I think the rest of the community is saying ‘no, that’s not who we are,’” Ayotte says. “The main thing is anybody who has this kind of feeling needs to come out and meet these people.”

Over the past year, nine churches, community groups, and leaders at the municipal, provincial and federal levels have all worked together to welcome Syrian refugees to Salmon Arm, Ayotte says. The United Church has even opened up a room for use as a mosque, he says.  

“I am very proud of Salmon Arm. It is a wonderful place,” Ayotte says.

If found, the person responsible for the graffiti could face charges under the criminal code.

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