“All we know for sure is it’s been vandalized,” Siebring said. “Based on the pictures, it looks like somebody used a grinder to take it off, very near the base.” He said the use of a grinder is concerning because it’s fire season. “You throw a grinder on metal at this time of year and there’s a lot of sparks.” The Nature Conservancy of Canada said the land on Mount Tzouhalem is known as the Chase Woods Nature Preserve and is in the heart of the Cowichan Tribes’ traditional territory. Siebring said he hopes what was done to the cross had nothing to do with other recent acts of vandalism, including the toppling of a James Cook statue in Victoria’s Inner Harbour. That act came amid reaction to the discovery of unmarked graves at former residential schools.