MONTREAL — Montreal police are labelling a large and blatant antisemitic graffito that appeared in St. Léonard a hate crime.

“Tue les juifs” (“Kill the Jews”) was sprayed in black paint on a condo at 7980 Malouin St., at the corner of Jarry Street.

Agent Daniel Castonguay of Station 42 in that north-end borough told the local newspaper Progrès St. Léonard it was the fourth or fifth time in the last two years that this message has been written on this building.

No Jews are known to live in the building, and there is little or no Jewish presence in St. Léonard.

David Ouellette, spokesperson for the Council on Jewish and Israel Affairs, said some minor antisemitic graffiti have been seen in downtown and in the Plateau-Mont-Royal, “but never very big. It’s the first time that I have heard of this graffito. It’s very explicitly an incitement to violence.”

The condo owners deplored the repeated appearance of the hateful message, and have shared the cost of its removal each time by the borough.