Yet another assault on a homeless person has taken place in B.C., this time on Vancouver Island.

Nanaimo RCMP stated that officers responded to a report about an assault with a weapon that took place around 11 p.m. on October 2 on Museum Way in Downtown Nanaimo.

Witnesses told police that three male suspects in dark clothing approached a 24-year-old homeless man, who was sitting on Museum Way, and asked him a question. They then allegedly struck him with an object that looked like a metal pipe.

The suspects then fled in the direction of Gordon Street and were last seen entering a black minivan that drove toward Terminal Avenue.

The victim was taken to hospital with head and facial trauma.

The attack appears to have been unprovoked, according to Nanaimo RCMP spokesperson Const. Simon Gallimore.

Any witnesses or anyone with dashcam or other footage (from the area within Museum Way, Commercial Street, Terminal Avenue, and Gordon Street from 9 to 10:30 p.m. on October 2) are asked to call Nanaimo RCMP at 250-754-2345.

A number of other seemingly random attacks on homeless people have taken place on Vancouver Island and in the Lower Mainland in recent months.

Back on July 10, Nanaimo RCMP had previously reported that a suspect bearsprayed a 45-year-old “marginalized street person” and ran him over with a car, before leaving him on the road near the intersection of Victoria Avenue and 102nd Street in Nanaimo.

In another unprovoked incident in that same month, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) released a video of a male suspect chasing after a homeless man, pushing him to the ground, and kicking him repeatedly on July 25 in Yaletown.

More recently, a 22-year-old man homeless man in the Downtown Eastside was shot through the leg with an arrow on September 23. Police later discovered a collection of weapons at a nearby building, including crossbows and replica rifles.