BRANTFORD -- Brantford police are investigating after a memorial for residential school victims and survivors at the Woodland Cultural Centre was vandalized.
On Saturday, police say they received a report that a memorial for missing and deceased children from residential schools at the Woodland Cultural Centre, the site of the former Mohawk Institute, had been damaged.
According to a release, a lone suspect attended the property sometime around 10:30 p.m. on Friday and remained there for four hours.
Police allege the suspect set fire to a number of items left at the site to honour the child victims of the residential school system.
Since the incident, community members have cleaned the area and restored the vigil.
"It’s important to honour the children who have not made it home and it's also helping our community deal with the grief and trauma since the discovery," said Janis Monture, executive director of the Woodland Culture Centre. "It's really brought a lot of other people to our site who otherwise may not have come and just sort of try to understand more about the history of the Mohawk Institute residential school."
Brantford police are working with Six Nations police to investigate the act of vandalism.
"Both agencies condemn the criminal acts of the suspect, who is believe to have acted alone, and remain committed to holding them accountable for their actions," reads a statement from Brantford police.
On Wednesday, police said a 38-year-old Brantford woman was charged with mischief under $5,000 in relation to the incident.
Brantford police are seeking the public's help in identifying a suspect who allegedly vandalized a memorial for residential school victims and survivors at the Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford. (Supplied by Brantford police)
With files from CTV Kitchener's Jeff Pickel.
