Bust of Mahatma Gandhi beheaded on B.C. university campus
Authorities are asking witnesses to come forward after security at Simon Fraser University discovered the head of the school's Mahatma Gandhi bust had been removed.
It’s unclear when the head was stolen but police believe power tools were used in the theft.
A number of Gandhi statues across the country have been the target of vandalism in recent years, and police said SFU’s bust had previously been vandalized with paint.
On Monday, the Consulate General of India in Vancouver released a statement on the statue’s decapitation on Twitter.
"We strongly condemn heinous crime of vandalizing the statue of harbinger of peace Mahatma Gandhiji," read the statement. "The Canadian authorities are urged to investigate the matter urgently and bring the perpetrators to justice swiftly."
The university said it is supporting Burnaby RCMP in their investigation.
"We are deeply disappointed that someone would do such an act. Vandalism of any kind is unacceptable and will not be tolerated," read a tweet by SFU Communications.
According to the Burnaby Art Gallery website, the sculpture was created by the Wagh Brothers at their Fine Arts Studio in Bombay, India in 1969. The website adds the following description: "This bronze bust of Mahatma Gandhi, a profoundly spiritual man whose teachings continue to inspire others, was generously donated to SFU by the East Indian community of British Columbia."
As of Tuesday at noon, the entire statue had been removed.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 employees across the country.