Kitchener signs defaced with 'hate-motivated' graffiti

The Waterloo Regional Police Service is investigating after several homemade signs were defaced in Kitchener with a pro-war symbol.

Police said around 8:25 a.m. Tuesday, they received a report of “hate-motivated" graffiti in a Chicopee neighbourhood.

The defaced signs were located in the area of Daimler Drive and Briarmeadow Drive.

The signs consisted of a handwritten note, taped to a wooden board, which read: "Ukraine needs our help." It also listed items needed by Ukrainian refugees and included a drop-off location for donations.

Several signs now have a large "Z" spray-painted over them.

Dominga Normandeau said her husband Paul, who put the signs, was just trying to help those in need.

"It's very sad and disappointing," she told CTV News. "The thing is, I don't know what this 'Z' means. I had to go to my husband and ask what this 'Z' means. My son is scared because the neighbourhood is quiet, and suddenly some people react like that."

That symbol has been used by Russian forces during their invasion into Ukraine and is now considered a sign of support for the war.

"A lot of people are calling it a Russian Nazi symbol," said Father Myroslaw Tataryn of the Ukrainian Catholic Church of Configuration. "It's perceived as a sign of hatred and violence, especially because it was on this sign asking for humanitarian aid for Ukraine."

MORE: Here's how the letter 'Z' became a pro-war symbol

Normandeau said her family will continue to collect donations.

"What our Ukrainian community wants here, what I think the overwhelming population wants, is peace," said Fr. Tataryn. "Peace is built by understand and compassion and love. Signs of hatred, any signs of hatred against any group, are just not appropriate."

Anyone with information on the graffiti is asked to call police at 519-570-9777 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

With reporting from CTV Kitchener's Tegan Versolatto