Police seek accused cross burner

An arrest warrant has been issued for one of the brothers accused of burning a cross in the yard of an interracial couple in Nova Scotia's Hants County.

The grandparents of Nathan Rehberg, 20, have withdrawn the $5,000 surety they posted so he could be free until his trial.

As a result, Judge J. Arthur LeBlanc issued a warrant for Rehberg's arrest on Wednesday, and police were looking for him.

Luke Craggs, Rehberg's lawyer, said he didn't know why the grandparents changed their minds. No reason was given in court.

"They filed a document with the court which says we don't want to do it anymore, and they don't have to justify it at all," Craggs told reporters outside the courthouse in Windsor.

Craggs said he did not know if there would be another bail hearing once Rehberg is apprehended.

"It's hard to say," he said. "He's got other people, as I understand it, who are prepared to help him out."

Rehberg and his 19-year-old brother Justin are charged with criminal harassment, public incitement of hatred, mischief and uttering threats.

They were granted bail on March 2 and ordered to stay with their grandparents on Old Brooklyn Road. They were also told to obey a 9 p.m. curfew, avoid drugs and stay away from the interracial family.

Michelle Lyon, partner Shayne Howe and their children discovered a two-metre-high cross with a hanging noose in front of their home in Poplar Grove early on Feb. 21. They also heard someone yell racial slurs.

The couple, who were at the courthouse on Wednesday, said they had no insight into why the surety was withdrawn.

"It's a shock to us," Lyon said. "We were told that there would be a warrant for one of them. So we're really, really shocked."