In Brantford, Ont., a 4-hour vandalism rampage destroyed a memorial to victims of residential schools.

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Kirti Pathak
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Brantford

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Police in Brantford are seeking a vandal who spent more than four hours Friday night destroying a memorial to Indigenous children who perished in residential schools. The lone suspect, who was seen on security video, arrived at the Woodland Cultural Centre in the Ontario city the site of a former residential school about 10:30 p.m. ET Friday. Over the following four hours, the individual set fire to a number of artifacts left to remember victims of the residential school system.

After the bones of an estimated 215 children were discovered in unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C., in May, children's shoes were put in front of the Woodland Cultural Centre.

Soon after the Tk'emlps te, Secwépemc First Nation near Kamloops discovered the graves using ground-penetrating radar, the Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan revealed it had discovered 751 unmarked graves on the site of the Marieval Indian Residential School, the last such Canadian institution to close in 1997. Other communities' terrible discoveries have since been confirmed.

The crime in Brantford was reported to police on Saturday, and patrol officers went to the scene that day. They are investigating the incident in collaboration with the Six Nations Police Service.

"Both agencies condemn the suspect's illegal activities, which are believed to have been performed alone, and are dedicated to holding them accountable for their crimes," stated a release released by Brantford police on Monday.

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