Woman charged after allegedly setting fire to items in memorial for Indigenous kids
Posted July 14, 2021 5:37 pm.
Last Updated July 14, 2021 5:52 pm.
BRANTFORD, Ont. – Police say a 38-year-old woman is facing charges after allegedly setting fire to a makeshift memorial for Indigenous children who disappeared or died while attending residential schools.
Police in Brantford, Ont., allege the woman set fire to individual items in the memorial, which cropped up outside the Woodland Cultural Centre after unmarked graves were discovered near the sites of several former residential schools.
They say the woman arrived at the scene at about 10:30 p.m. Friday and stayed there for four hours, into the early hours of Saturday.
Items left to honour the child victims of the residential school system were set on fire and vandalized, police said.
“Both agencies condemn the criminal acts of the suspect, who is believed to have acted alone, and remain committed to holding them accountable for their actions,” the Brantford Police force said Monday.
Police say they made an arrest in the case on Tuesday.
Investigators say someone sent in a tip after hearing about the vandalism, which led them to the suspect.
The local woman faces one charge of mischief under $5,000.
