Skip to content

Woman charged after allegedly setting fire to items in memorial for Indigenous kids

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.

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.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 14, 2021.

The Canadian Press


Looking for Ontario News?

VillageReport.ca viewed on a mobile phone

Check out Village Report - the news that matters most to Canada, updated throughout the day.  Or, subscribe to Village Report's free daily newsletter: a compilation of the news you need to know, sent to your inbox at 6AM.

Subscribe