The management of the Vishnu temple in the Greater Toronto Area, where a statue of Mahatma Gandhi was vandalised last week, said it is instituting new security measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
A member of the temple executive Robin Doobay said that they will install security cameras to monitor the Peace Park within the temple complex, where the statue stands. He said the police have been “very supportive” and “sent out an officer from the crime department and he is advising us on the security upgrade in the Peace Park”.
He added they were awaiting word on the progress in the investigation of the vandalism from the York regional police, which collected CCTV recordings from cameras elsewhere in the temple for analysis.
Michael Ford, minister of citizenship and multiculturalism in the provincial government of Ontario, visited the temple on Monday and expressed solidarity with the community.
“This morning I had the opportunity to meet with members of our Hindu community at Vishnu Mandir and assured community leaders that acts of vandalism have no place in our province,” Ford said on Twitter after the visit.
