Toronto

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Toronto Police say two men in their 20s dug the ominous mystery tunnel discovered near the Rexall Centre to create their own “man cave.”

Investigators said Monday that after significant media attention last week, they were tipped off to the pair of young men, who claimed their reason for digging the bunker was to create a place where they could hang out.

“We are satisfied there was no criminal intent, nor was there any criminal intention for that tunnel,” Const. Victor Kwong said. “We’re classifying it as ‘personal.’ What it is was two guys had an idea of: ‘Wouldn’t it be great to dig a hole and hang out in it,’ so they did.”

The tunnel was discovered by a Toronto and Region Conservation Authority officer who was making rounds of the area on Jan. 14. He initially thought it was a homeless shelter and called for backup.

Two enforcement officers discovered electrical cables, a blue hose, a generator and compressor. They also saw a wheelbarrow near the dirt pile and removed woody debris to reveal a large excavation.

Toronto Police officers also found a rosary and Remembrance Day poppy in the 10-metre-by-60-centimetres tunnel.

“There was no further deeper meaning than it was just something that was there,” Kwong said. “I don’t know if they found (the rosary and poppy) and hung them up or if they brought them in, but it was not like a Catholic ritual.”

Kwong said he couldn’t provide more details on the two men, except they “had no formal training” in creating a bunker, “which is the impressive part of this.”

Deputy Chief Mark Saunders said at a press conference last week there are no criminal charges related to digging a hole. There was public concern that the hole was perhaps a threat to the Rexall Centre, a tennis venue for the upcoming Pan Am Games, or to the nearby York University campus.

“For us as cops, all we care about is the criminal and the public safety aspects,” Kwong said. “We’ve done our part, because we’re satisfied with that. But if it’s private lands, it’s up to the landowners to do something.

“We took it to the extreme because we had no idea (what the hole) was about.”

The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, which owns the land, was not immediately available for comment.

jenny.yuen@sunmedia.ca