Winnipeg police are investigating after a couple say they came home New Year's Eve to find a large rock painted with an anti-Semitic message near their front steps.
B'nai Brith says the homeowners in a residential neighbourhood west of the city's downtown found the rock in a red gift bag wrapped in a red ribbon.
The words "Die Jew Bitch" were scrawled on one side of the rock in red paint while a swastika and the word "Einsatzgruppen" was painted on the other. The Einsatzgruppen were mobile Nazi death squads and killed Jews — and others — during the Holocaust.
The red ribbon had another anti-Semitic slur on it and the words "get out of neighberhood (sic)."
Police say they are taking the incident seriously and investigating it as a hate crime but a spokesperson was not available to comment further.
Amanda Hohmann, with B'nai Brith, says the homeowners — who were not identified — called the organization's anti-hate hotline and reported the incident to police.
She said they were shocked, bewildered and frightened.
"While incidents like this happen with relative frequency in other parts of the country, it's definitely unusual for Winnipeg," she said in a release.
"Overall numbers of anti-Semitic incidents have dropped dramatically there in recent years, so this has to be quite shocking to the community."
Hohmann said they have had assurances from police that they are investigating the incident.
"We will continue to work closely with the family involved, as well as Winnipeg police, to ensure that this incident is treated with the seriousness that it deserves, and that this does not result in a general increase in anti-Semitism in Winnipeg."
