TORONTO — Toronto police are investigating whether an incident in which dog feces were smeared on the Bathurst Street entrance of the Beth Joseph Chabad is a hate-motivated crime.

Chayala Zarchi, the wife of Beth Joseph’s spiritual leader, Rabbi Yehuda Zarchi, as well as the preschool director at the shul, located at Bathurst and Edinburgh Drive, said the vandalism was discovered by one of the shul’s members on Aug. 31 when he arrived for morning prayers.

“It was smeared on the door, on the handles… He just made a mess all over the door,” Zarchi said.

“We have video surveillance around the entire building and there was very clear footage of the individual… we’re hoping that [the police] are going to find him.”

Det. Lori Kranenburg of the Toronto Police Service confirmed that officers are looking for the suspect based on images from the video, which “should be good enough for identification.”

“You can see him walking his dog, you can see him walk up to the door, and smear feces all over the handles and the windows [of the door],” Kranenburg said.

“We think the person lives in the area, because it looks like he was out to walk his dog.”

Kranenburg described the suspect as white, tall with a medium build and described the dog as a medium-sized, white poodle mix.

She said police have not yet released an image of the suspect to the public, “because we’re hoping that we’ll find him walking the dog. If we put the image out, he might not continue that behaviour.”

Kranenburg said police won’t be able to determine whether this is a hate-motivated crime until they make an arrest.

“We don’t know yet who he is or why he would this, so I don’t know the motivation yet,” she added.

Meanwhile, Zarchi said she’s been in touch with the parents of the children who attend the preschool at Beth Joseph and assured them that they do have security cameras and security policies that have been reviewed by the staff.

“We just want them to feel comfortable. It’s just unfortunate.”