Montreal police have launched an investigation after a suspicious overnight fire heavily damaged a kosher restaurant in the city’s Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough, with members of the Jewish community expressing concern that the incident may have been motivated by antisemitism.

The two-alarm fire erupted at approximately 3:15 a.m. Friday at Nöam restaurant on Décarie Boulevard near Vézina Street, according to Service de police de la Ville de Montréal spokesperson Raphael Bergeron.

Although no injuries were reported, the restaurant sustained extensive damage. Bergeron said investigators have preliminary information indicating that an individual was present at the property when the fire began.

Police have obtained surveillance footage from the scene, which investigators are now reviewing as part of the ongoing probe.

Video obtained by CBC News appears to show a man wearing a white T-shirt and dark pants igniting the fire before fleeing the area.

While police have not determined a motive, many in the local Jewish community believe the attack may have specifically targeted the kosher establishment.

“Given the fact that it was a kosher restaurant, I find it hard to believe it wasn’t antisemitism,” said Howard Szalavetz, who owns the building.

Szalavetz said he was awakened by a phone call around 4 a.m. informing him that the property was engulfed in flames.

“I ran here, I was crying because there’s a lot of history in this building,” he said.

The building owner explained that he and his father purchased the property four decades ago, and that he once operated his own real estate business from the location.

Today, the building houses several businesses, including the kosher restaurant, a garage, and a car wash. According to Szalavetz, only the restaurant suffered damage in the fire.

“If my thoughts on the reasons for this are correct, then it’s a very sad state in society if this is what happens to good people, good hardworking people. They run a good business, they are good tenants,” he said.

The incident quickly drew condemnation from elected officials.

In a statement posted TODAY on social media, Liberal Member of Parliament Anthony Housefather called for investigators to treat the case as a possible hate crime.

“Absolutely disgusted to see what appears to be an arson attack on Nöam, a local kosher restaurant overnight. This attack on a Jewish [owned] business must be investigated as a hate crime [and] those involved in this criminal act must be caught [and] prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he wrote.

Housefather later visited the damaged restaurant, joined by Elisabeth Prass, the Member of the National Assembly representing D’Arcy-McGee.

Prass said she has dined at the restaurant before and was deeply disturbed by what had occurred.

“I couldn’t believe something like that would happen in our backyard so it was important for me to come here and speak to the owners and see it for myself,” she said.

“I think somebody who is a coward and who has a lot of anger in their heart came last night and set a business on fire what their motivations are we can’t be sure for now, but we can’t deny the fact that it was a kosher restaurant.”

Like Housefather, Prass said she hopes the suspect is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and that, if investigators determine the attack was motivated by hatred, it should be treated accordingly.

CDN-NDG Borough Mayor Stéphanie Valenzuela also responded to the incident, emphasizing that violence and intimidation have no place in the community.

“CDN-NDG is home to a strong, diverse and resilient community. Acts of violence and intimidation have no place in our neighbourhoods,” she wrote.

Valenzuela added that borough officials are in contact with law enforcement and will continue closely monitoring the investigation.