students and staff at Westdale Secondary The school in Hamilton arrived on Friday morning to find some unwanted decorations on the exterior facade.
The same week the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board approved a masking requirement for students and staff, someone spray-painted the words “No Masks” in five different locations around the high school.
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At around 11 a.m. Friday, graffiti removal crews were at the scene to clean it up.
A worker cleaning anti-mask graffiti outside Westdale Secondary School.
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A spokesperson for the HWDSB confirmed the sabotage.
“Yes, we are aware and we take these types of incidents very seriously,” said Sean McKillop, manager of communications at the board, adding that the graffiti has since been removed and that they have contacted Hamilton Police.
“The content of the graffiti expressed concern over the response to protective health measures. Our priority is to reduce the spread of respiratory illness through a temporary universal masking requirement to ensure that our schools are in the safest state possible.”
Two other HWDSB schools in Westdale – Coots Paradise Elementary and Dellwood Elementary – also reported similar graffiti on campus.
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Hamilton police say the same graffiti was also found on the walls of Kehilla Heschel School on Cline Avenue, which is not part of the public school board and is not affected by the mask requirement.
A spokesman for the Jewish day school confirmed the vandalism and said it was likely done overnight, adding that they had clear video footage of the vandalism in the act of leaving the graffiti.
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