Students and staff at one of Montreal’s largest Muslim schools expressed shock today after windows in their building were smashed and the school bus was vandalized overnight.

“Parents are very angry and teachers are afraid,” said Principal Sawaf Layla, at École Les jeunes Musulmans canadiens where shards of glass lay in the school’s entrance.

Rocks and bricks crashed through about 15 windows at the school sometime between 9 p.m. Monday night and 5 a.m. Tuesday, police said. For now, police are viewing it as an act of vandalism rather than a hate crime because the school hadn’t received any threats, said Montreal police spokesperson Laurent Gingras.

People at the private school had a different take on the incident. “In my opinion it’s a hate crime because we have no incidents. We are okay with the neighbours. We have no problems with anybody,” Layla said. [Link]