Rocks with anti-vaccine messages thrown through Cambridge businesses' windows: WRPS

Cambridge -

Waterloo regional police are investigating after rocks with anti-vaccination messages on them were thrown through the windows of two Cambridge businesses.

According to a release, a pharmacy and a restaurant in the area of King Street East had rocks thrown through their front windows.

Police said the two incidents of property damage occurred overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday.

In both instances, police said the rocks had "messages and graphics with possible inferences to anti-vaccination."

Christa Bailey, the manager at Zaz Bistro, says she was shocked when she got to work Wednesday morning to find a smashed window and a hole in their front sign.

“It’s an out-of-pocket expense,” she said. “We’re estimating it at about $3000.

 “We aren’t writing the rules, we’re just following them. We are not the people that can make any changes.”

Three weeks ago, the province implemented mandatory vaccine passports to dine-in at restaurants.

Just down the street, the owner of Cambridge Medical Pharmacy said his front window was also smashed, but his happened on Tuesday night.

“Ours happened at around 11:40 P.M. And theirs was at around one in the morning,” Nimmit Vyas, the pharmacy owner, said.

According to WRPS, both instances are being investigated separately, but investigators are trying to determine if they are related.

Vyas said he believes it was the same culprit. Security footage taken at the pharmacy and at the restaurant both show a person on a bike throwing the rocks.

“You’re just basically wasting everyone’s time, and effort, and causing mayhem,” said Vyas. “He was not in a rush. He was not scared of what he was doing.”

Both businesses said they will be looking into investing in more security measures in the hopes to prevent this from happening again.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call police or Crime Stoppers.