The swastika appears to have been the final straw for a quiet Midland neighbourhood seemingly terrorized daily by students from a nearby high school.
Brad Zimmerman, who lives in the neighbourhood known as The Grove, said he couldn’t believe what he was seeing when he went to his mailbox Monday.
“On the notable date of Oct. 7, they decided it would be a good idea to write 'hail [sic] Hitler' and 'death to Jews' and plaster swastikas in permanent marker all over the concrete and mailboxes,” Zimmerman said, referring to the day a year ago when Hamas terrorists launched unprovoked attacks against Israelis.
Zimmerman says students from Georgian Bay District Secondary School (GBDSS) regularly head to the pavilion that covers The Grove residents’ mailboxes and an adjacent park during breaks and over the lunch hour.
The small subdivision, which runs off Yonge Street, has pathways heading to Hugel Avenue and the high school.
Zimmerman says he and other residents have approached school administration about the issue, but come away frustrated after getting responses like "we can’t do anything" or "it’s not our problem when they’re not on school property."
“I was completely dismissed at the office. None of the residents want to have a fistfight with one of the students,” he said, clearly frustrated by the lack of support from GBDSS and noting that some residents feel terrorized and are afraid to leave their homes to collect their mail.
On average, Zimmerman estimated about 50 students congregate under or near the pavilion with 10 or so usually standing atop the mailboxes.
Zimmerman said he even spoke to a Canada Post letter carrier and was told carriers will wait until the end of their route to deliver residents’ mail so as not to encounter the students.
Zimmerman, who has lived in the neighbourhood for about a decade, says the issues with students have been going on now for a couple of years, but has gotten worse over the past while.
"It’s mayhem,” he said. “There are a lot of retired people here and they don’t leave the house. We have had a very hard few years dealing with issues in and around our park area including the mail pavilion especially, where students on their lunch break from the high school come and vandalize everything in sight.”
While the incidents usually involve “mountains of garbage,” damage to the community’s sharing library and graffiti that’s usually drawings of male genitalia and similar offerings, Zimmerman feels the students crossed a line this time, given the significance of the day to the region’s Jewish population.
“This was kind of the last straw. It’s an escalation,” said Zimmerman, who reports regularly heading to the pavilion with a pressure washer and acetone to try to rid the area of graffiti.
He filed a report with Southern Georgian Bay OPP Monday, and on Tuesday police arrived to disperse the students.
But Zimmerman says an officer told him that unless police catch the kids in the act of doing something wrong, there’s little they can do.
Simcoe County District School Board communications manager Sarah Kekewich said staff will participate fully in any police investigation relating to the issue.
"Although we do not have all the details as to what transpired in the community, we understand that this incident has been reported to police," she said.
Southern Georgian Bay OPP Const. David Hobson said police take these types of incidents seriously.
"These types of incidents are upsetting for community members and appropriate police investigative resources have been engaged this incident, which is still under investigation preventing me from commenting further," he said.
And for anyone who thinks this is an isolated issue, Zimmerman has a message.
“This is everyone’s problem. Midland is a melting pot of many different backgrounds, faiths and traditions and for anyone to be subjected to this kind of hate rhetoric is completely unacceptable,” he said.
“And, in my opinion, totally preventable with just a little bit of effort from both the OPP and the faculty at GBDSS. (I’m) hoping to bring some light to this issue in the community so that maybe parents of these kids can have a talk with them," Zimmerman added.
Hobson urged anyone who may have information regarding this investigation, including door-bell, dash-cam or home-video surveillance in the area, to contact the OPP at 888-310-1122, opp.southern.
Hobson also noted that residents can learn more about the CAMSafe program and register security cameras by clicking here.
