Red paint was found smeared on the doors of the Basilica Cathedral of St. John the Baptist Parish in St. John's, Newfoundland, early on the morning of Canada Day.

The church was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1983.

According to a report from the CBC,

Paint was seen across the door handle of the church's parish, along with being smeared across the steps of the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese on Military Rd.

A cleaning crew was on the scene with a pressure washer Thursday morning.

John Thomas Mullock, a 19th century Newfoundland bishop is buried in the church's crypt.

Last year, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals rejected a historic plaque commemorating Mullock on the grounds that his life's work of building churches, schools, convents and a library was actually to “grow the Catholic Church.”