VANCOUVER -- Police are investigating after a Jewish summer camp on Gabriola Island was vandalized with hateful graffiti, including swastikas.
A caretaker at Camp Miriam discovered the vandalism on Dec. 19, though investigators said it's possible the graffiti was left as far back as early September.
"There's a large gap there that we're trying to narrow," Cpl. Jesse O'Donaghey told CTV News.
Unfortunately, the camp's remote location near the north point of the island means there are few security cameras around that could shed light on who is responsible.
Investigators said they're hoping someone with information on what happened will come forward. In the meantime, the RCMP is consulting with its hate crime team.
"We completely understand the feelings that that the community may have … discovering something like this, and we just want to reassure them that we're taking this seriously," O'Donaghey said.
Camp Miriam hosts elementary school and high school children over the summers, and teaches them about "Israel, Jewish history, social justice and the environment," according to its website.
James Dayson of the Miriam Foundation described the camp as "such a special place" to the young campers who go there.
While the vandalism was disturbing, Dayson said he's thankful there were no kids at camp when it was discovered.
He also said the response from the small island community – including hundreds of messages of support on social media – has been a silver lining on an otherwise unfortunate situation.
"The response we've had has been absolutely beautiful," he said. "The don't want something like this to reflect on their community. It's obviously an isolated incident – we've never had issues with safety."
Dayson said some Gabriola residents have also organized a candlelit vigil for the afternoon of Jan. 2 outside the Camp Miriam property.
He's hopeful they can take the experience and use it to spread awareness.
"This is an opportunity to have more education," Dayson said. "We have a meeting coming up in January where one of the things we want to discuss is how do we take this negative situation and make it into something positive."
Police said anyone with information on the graffiti can contact the Gabriola RCMP detachment at 250-247-8333. Tipsters who want to remain anonymous can instead call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Spencer Harwood
