In a multicultural city, hate vandalism isn’t unusual. But in a quiet Little Italy community just north of College St., a spray-painted swastika has remained on display in a laneway for weeks. Neighbours aren’t sure when the hate symbol appeared, but it has been there long enough that the paint has begun to fade.

When graffiti appears on private property, it’s the owner’s responsibility to remove it. Once the city is aware of the vandalism, a notice is sent to the home or business owner to remove the graffiti within 72 hours. The problem in this case is that no one was in any rush to alert the city or the police.

“Sometimes property owners will see graffiti, but they won’t report it, they won’t complain about it,” said Staff Sgt. Heinz Kuck, coordinator of the Toronto Police Service Graffiti Eradication Program. If it’s in a secluded spot, “it could be there for weeks, months or even years.”

Markings like the Nazi emblem usually draw attention fairly quickly and the fact that this hate symbol is still up is “an anomaly,” Kuck said.

“Obviously people in that particular laneway seeing that swastika are not being affected.”

The lane runs behind a residential street and has no shortage of graffiti, though most of it is standard tagging. “You’re not going to have a lot of people going though that laneway day-to-day,” explained Kuck, “but if they do and they see it, they have accepted that level of graffiti and the swastika as part of the esthetics of that laneway, and they’re not going to change it. It becomes acceptance.”

This apathy is fought through education, one of the five tiers of the police graffiti eradication program. (The others are eradication, empowerment, enforcement and economic development). Through workshops and lectures in communities and schools, the team tries to show residents the harmful effects of graffiti and certain symbols.

And while some may argue that graffiti has merit, Kuck said it doesn’t in this case. “A swastika is a swastika. It is not an artistic expression. It is one-dimensional and should be removed by the property owner.”

Because having one tag simply invites more tagging, Kuck said, his program encourages the removal of graffiti within 24 to 48 hours.

Anita Bromberg of B’nai Brith Canada, the Jewish advocacy organization, wondered why no one in the community had acted on the racist and anti-Semitic symbol. “To accept a certain level of intolerance means a defeat in our struggle to create a civil society,” she said.

Bromberg agreed that community activism plays a big part in fighting hate and vandalism. “You can turn these people over to the police, you can leave it in the police hands, but the other part of it is education,” she said. “It’s very important that we involve the kids to understand what avoiding hate is.”

Like Kuck, she had a theory on why no one acted on the sprayed swastika. “When people are confronted by hate, they tend to internalize it,” she explained. “So you could have a lot of people who don’t know who to report it to.”

Local resident Katie Morgan, who had just returned from a month-long road trip out east, was unaware of the hate graffiti a few metres away during an interview, though the idea made her visibly uncomfortable.

“It’s important for people to know that they can’t be doing that,” Morgan said. “With tagging it’s not nice, but to put fear into people, something that could cause anxiety or disgust...” She trailed off, looking in the direction of the graffiti.

Morgan said she thinks of her neighbourhood as community-oriented, so this type of vandalism caught her off-guard. “It just feels weird to see that. And it’s disturbing the peace,” she said.

Barry Speers, who has lived in the area for more than 25 years, said he had never before seen a swastika in the laneway where he parks. “I noticed that, it’s awful. And especially [because] it hasn’t been taken down.”

But Speers, whose garage is a few metres away from the defaced door, didn’t act on the vandalism, despite his discomfort with it.

“What am I going to do, call the police?” he asked.

In fact, citizens have a duty to alert the authorities, Kuck said.

“For the most part, it’s driven by a community to identify and to remove [hate graffiti]. It’s their property and it’s their responsibility. And we’re asking people to take pride in home ownership and business ownership,” he said.

Residents are encouraged to report graffiti to the city’s municipal licensing and standards division. When the city receives a complaint, it issues a notice to the homeowner to remove the graffiti, said Elizabeth Glibbery, East York district manager.

“We understand it takes time to notify the property owners, [so] although the bylaw says 72 hours, we’ll give them at least 10 days to comply.”

If the city has to do the cleanup after that time, it will bill the property owner.

As of Aug. 24, a city notice was taped to the front door of the house with the vandalized garage. The person who answered the door did not speak English and no one else was home at the time.

The swastika is “a benchmark symbol of hate,” Kuck said. “Why that property owner hasn’t acted I can’t say, and why that property owner’s neighbours haven’t is even more horrendous.”

To report graffiti in your area, call 311.

Have you seen hate graffiti in your neighbourhood? How did you react? What's your opinion on graffiti eradication and community responsibility? Tell us in the comments below.