A vandal who broke into the Etobicoke Civic Centre and caused “thousands and thousands of dollars in damage” to the inside of the building likely acted alone, a city councillor for a nearby ward says.

Etobicoke-Lakeshore Councillor Mark Grimes tells CP24 that police have informed him that surveillance camera footage captured a single male suspect entering the building.

Grimes said the suspect is described as white, about five-foot-eight to five-foot-ten and 170 to 180 lbs.

“It is unbelievable what has happened here,” Grimes said, noting that the damage was spread over all four floors of the civic centre. “It’s thousands and thousands of dollars of damage. It is just pointless.”

Police were called to the civic centre at around 4 a.m. after employees arrived at the building to begin their work day.

The exact nature of the damage is not immediately clear, however police have previously said that the vandal discharged a fire extinguisher inside and broke a number of windows.

About four or five City of Toronto vehicles that were parked outside were also damaged.

The Major Crime Unit is handling the investigation.

“It is certainly a waste of taxpayer dollars,” Grimes told CP24. “It is too early to tell what has happened, but this is certainly not the way to go about it (the suspect has) a problem with the city.”

Police remain on scene

Const. Victor Kwong told CP24 on Tuesday afternoon that forensics officers remain on scene collecting evidence and that there is no timetable for when the 117 employees that work at the civic centre will be allowed to return to work.

Kwong was asked whether the vandalism could be related to a petition calling on the city to rename the building after the late Rob Ford but said it is too early to speculate on a motive.

Meanwhile, in a message posted to Twitter, Mayor John Tory said he was “disappointed” to learn of the vandalism and urged anyone with information to contact police.

The total value of the damage caused to the building was not immediately available.

A spokesperson for the City of Toronto tells CP24 that officials will begin assessing that as soon as they are given the all-clear to enter the building. The clean-up would then begin immediately thereafter.

In the meantime, a temporary customer service counter has been seen set up for the City Planning and Building department at 399 The West Mall.