Article content

Police are hoping that surveillance camera footage will lead them to the vandal who defiled the Old City Hall cenotaph — less than 24 hours after a Remembrance Day ceremony was held there.

“They should be very severely dealt with,” insisted Mayor John Tory, who added the person or those responsible “should be ashamed of themselves.”

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or 'DISGUSTING': Cops probing vandalism at Toronto cenotaph Back to video

Someone spray-painted “Ye broke faith” on the front of the monument and the words “with us” on the back of it. The words appear to reference a line in John McCrae’s poem, In Flanders Fields: “If ye break faith with us who die.”

Passerby Tammy Martinez was brought to tears and went to straighten up a wreath in front of the monument.

“That’s just wrong,” said Martinez. “I cried here (at Monday’s ceremony). I love Canada … My nephew, he’s served in Afghanistan, he’s lost friends … It’s just beyond a slap in the face. It’s total disrespect.”

Another passerby, Dana McKiel, was also outraged by the vandalism.