A school bus parked in a Jewish neighbourhood was set on fire, and a kosher grocery store and a Jewish community centre were vandalised in Toronto, Ontario.

Toronto police say the school bus has parked without incident in the same spot behind a grocery store for 15 years. However, it was recently set on fire and damaged beyond repair, Breitbart news writes. Law enforcement say they are investigating the incident as arson and a possible hate crime.

„Targeting Jews because of the Middle East is pure anti-Semitism and only makes us more determined to stand up for our beliefs,”

the United Jewish Appeal Federation of Greater Toronto (UJA) stated.

The UJA reported that it had spoken to police about the arson, as well as anti-Israel messages such as „Free Palestine” painted on the community centre, the kosher grocery store and at least two other business establishments.

Melissa Lantsman, Conservative Party MP for Greater Toronto and Thornhill, said the attacks on the grocery store and other Jewish businesses were „clear forms of intimidation and nothing more”. „We will not be intimidated by lawless mobs. This is an attack on Canadian values, and these thugs should be prosecuted,” Lantsman said, directing criticism at Trudeau’s Liberal government by saying that “a government that accepts this as the new normal deserves to be defeated so that everyone in this country can feel safe”.

The Toronto Fire Department said they were also called to extinguish a small fire burning in a toy storage shed behind a Jewish school on Tuesday, the morning after the bus fire.

Police said that their hate crime unit had been „consulted” about the school fire, but that “there is no evidence that this incident was motivated by hate”. A police spokesperson told a local radio station that someone may have inadvertently started the fire while “using the shed for shelter”.