'I was shocked': Montreal immigrant family finds apartment looted, defaced with swastikas after fire

An immigrant family in Montreal is picking up the pieces after their apartment was reportedly looted following a fire on Feb. 3, 2023. (Courtesy image)

This article includes a photo containing swastikas.

An immigrant family in Montreal is picking up the pieces after their apartment was looted and defaced with swastikas following a fire last month.

On Feb. 3, one of the coldest days of the year, a five-alarm fire evicted 20 families from their apartment building on Sherbrooke Street and Carignan Avenue in eastern Montreal.

Cherif, his wife, and two young daughters were among them. He requested his last name be omitted to protect his family's privacy.

Fortunately, Cherif's apartment was spared from the fire, aside from some smoke damage, but when he returned later to retrieve his things, he was met with an unwelcome sight.

Photos shared with CTV News show the apartment in total disarray, with clothing littering the floor and the shelves bare.

A Montreal man says his apartment was looted after he and his family were evacuated due to a fire. (Courtesy image)

"I found clothes everywhere. The cabinets, they emptied them onto the floor," Cherif recalled. "I found that my wife's jewelry was missing, jewelry made of gold and silver."

Aside from the apparent looting, red swastikas were painted on his children's bedroom door, one of them scrawled across a drawing his daughter had made.

"I left. I was shocked," Cherif said.

While he can't say whether the swastikas were a targeted attack, Cherif wonders if the apartment building's overall demographic might have inspired the looters to paint the hateful symbols.

"If we look at the general makeup of the building, it's inhabited by immigrants," he said. "We have two or three Canadians."

Cherif immigrated to Canada from Algeria 18 months ago.

"The fact that someone entered your home, without permission -- even if they didn't steal anything, didn't do anything -- it hurts. And when you see a [swastika], it's not agreeable at all, it scares you. It really scares you."

A Montreal man is speaking out after his daughters' bedroom door was defaced with swastikas after the family was evacuated due to a fire. (Courtesy image)

According to property management group Alfid, which oversees the apartment building, security measures were established between Feb. 3 and 11 to protect the building from intruders.

Alfid says that a letter, reviewed by CTV News, was sent to tenants informing them they could return to retrieve their possessions on Feb. 11 following clearance from the city inspector.

"They received this letter by email and in person for those tenants who were staying at the hotel, or they received it through our internal system," an Alfid spokesperson said.

A Montreal man says his apartment was looted after he and his family were evacuated due to a fire. (Courtesy image)

But Cherif insists he didn't receive notice through any of these channels.

Instead, he says he got a call from Alfid on Feb. 13 saying he could go in the next day. By then, the additional security measures on the premises had ended.

He says had he been informed earlier, "I could have gotten my objects and I wouldn't have been robbed."

Cherif, who now lives in a new apartment with his family, plans to report the thefts to the police.