Sectarian slogan painted on leading Glasgow catholic school

POLICE are investigating after a sectarian slogan was painted on the exterior of a leading independent catholic school.

St Aloysius College in Glasgow's Garnethill district. Picture: John Devlin/TSPL

An offensive comment relating to the Irish Great Famine of the 1840s was spraypainted on St Aloysius’ College in Glasgow’s Garnethill district sometime between 5pm on Friday and 9pm yesterday.

Police are treating the incident as a hate crime.

The school was opened in 1859 and is named after the Jesuit Aloysius Gonzaga.

A spokesperson for St Aloysius’ College said: “Graffiti was discovered on the Dalhousie Street side of the main building on Monday morning.

“The matter was reported to police and enquiries are ongoing. The graffiti has now been removed.”

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “The incident is being treated as a hate crime and enquiries are ongoing.”

St Aloysius’ operates both a junior and senior school. Its four houses are named after Jesuit saints.

Pupils are instructed to inscribe AMDG (Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam – “To the greater glory of God”) on all work.

Notable former pupils of the school include Sir Harry Burns, former Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, actor Tom Conti and comedian Armando Iannucci.