Vancouver police are investigating a possible hate crime after a white man allegedly urinated on Coal Harbour's Komagata Maru monument earlier this week as he spouted epithets at an Indian tourist and his friend.

Vancouver police spokesman Const. Brian Montague said the incident was reported around 4 p.m. Monday and though it's being investigated as mischief "the file is (also) being reviewed by our hate crimes investigator."

"A hate crime isn't an offence it's just an aggravating factor when it comes to sentencing," Montague said.

The man allegedly tried to start a fight with the tourist and his friend near the monument at the steps of the convention centre, according to The Asian Journal.

After arguing, the tourist photographed the man allegedly peeing on the monument, which commemorates the 376 South Asian passengers denied entry to Vancouver's Coal Harbour almost 100 years ago.

The photo of the disheveled young man enraged members of Vancouver's South Asian community Thursday as it made the rounds on social media.

Park Board Commissioner Niki Sharma confirmed Thursday that staff did clean off urine from the monument.

"We obviously have zero tolerance for this kind of behaviour, especially in a park and, especially, with this kind of monument," Sharma said.

Sharma, whose parents immigrated from India, said it is "just so awful" to have "somebody deliberately urinate" on the monument to the men who died after being denied entry to Canada.

"As I learned about the history of our laws you learn about how these laws particularly discriminated against South Asians from coming into Canada," Sharma said. "If they didn't change, if we didn't change and open our minds up to different cultures in the society we are today - I wouldn't even be here."

Without knowing the identity of the suspect, Montague said police won't know whether the man's mental health played a role in the alleged offence.

He did add that police are "fairly confident that we'll identify him quickly."

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