The University of Victoria was hit overnight with graffiti, a day before first-year students were scheduled to move in.
On Sunday, multiple campus residence buildings were found spray-painted in red, green and blue with pro-Palestinian and anti-UVic messages.
Staff began covering up the graffiti with construction paper, but messages of “Free Palestine” and “Stop Funding Genocide” could still be seen scattered through the campus residence cluster on Sunday afternoon.
A university-branded transport truck was also targeted.
Stencils of hands in red and green were peppered throughout the campus residence area near entryways, mailboxes, power boxes, and signs.
It’s unclear if any residents or buildings were singled out.
About 3,000 students are expected to move into UVic residences in the coming days.
While UVic’s move-in period began Sunday, some varsity athletes, international students, and summer stay-over students already reside on campus.
A university spokesperson said that while it is too early to speculate about the identities of those involved, acts of graffiti are unacceptable and anyone caught vandalizing university property may be subject to university sanction policies in addition to criminal charges.
“We are deeply disappointed that this has occurred and the university has contacted Saanich police,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The student move-in is continuing as normal and no campus operations have been affected, the statement said.
On Sunday, families took group selfies and parents said goodbye to their children in front of the South Tower residence apartment, which had several red handprints sprayed near the entrance.
In an email obtained by the Times Colonist, the university’s associate director of residence life, Terry Forst, told residence staff that UVic is making it a priority to repair “damaged safety equipment” and remove “offensive language.”
A full removal of the graffiti is expected to take weeks, Forst said in the email. “Unfortunately the impact is wide spread across residence and it will take some time to be completely dealt with.”
When asked, the university spokesperson did not elaborate on what equipment had been damaged or the nature of the messages deemed offensive, though it appeared that pro-Palestinian and anti-UVic messaging with profanity were covered up as a priority.
UVic was the site of a pro-Palestinian encampment from May 1 to July 22, at a time when similar demonstrations swept across North America.
Students camped out on the library quad for 83 days, calling for UVic to divest from corporations supporting Israel, cut academic ties to that country and “condemn the ongoing genocide of Palestinians.”
They vacated their encampment of about 50 tents after the university issued a trespass notice.
Protesters at the time vowed that their campus movement would continue.
In July, the university’s multifaith centre was targeted with messages of anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian and anti-Iranian hate before Friday Muslim prayers, which prompted UVic to close the centre for three days.
