Police say they know it was an act of vandalism that caused a Coast Guard ship to slide from its cradle and back into the water. Now the unanswered question is why?

The ship, CCGS Corporal McLaren, was discovered on its side in the water Saturday morning after being released from its secured cradle and sliding down a slip at the Canadian Maritime Engineering shipyard in Sambro Head, N.S.

“It was in the water, and it appears that it was in for repairs on a slip. And at some point cables were damaged,” says Staff Sgt. Robert Fox of the Halifax Regional Police.

The vessel was held off in the water in a cradle at Canadian Maritime Engineering for retrofitting.

Sometime overnight, the thick steel cables that held the ship up were cut.

“A mini-grinder would be our guess,” says Raymond Gallant, Canadian Maritime Engineering’s Vice President of Operations. “It was a very clean cut, there’s options, you could use an oxy-acetylene torch but it cuts different. You can see the type of cut and this was definitely cut with a cordless grinder.”

Police were on scene much of Saturday, but say there are still many unknowns.

“The initial investigation deemed that the circumstances with the ship in the water was suspicious. There’s no other information I have at this time,” says Staff Sgt. Fox.

The Cpl. McLaren now sits in the water, about 30 degrees of kilter, and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

The Coast Guard and Canadian Maritime Engineering are also doing their own internal investigation. They say it’s too early to know how long the Cpl. McLaren will be out of the water, or how much it will cost to fix.

Because the ship was in the process of repairs, there were holes in the hull that allowed water in. That’s why it’s listing, and why it will take a few days before it can be upright again.

“It’s a relatively slow process when you’re working underwater, especially doing welding operations underwater,” says Gallant.

Once the ship is upright, it will be towed back to the Government Wharf, and crews hope to have it back on its slip by the end of this week. The investigation is ongoing.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Emily Baron Cadloff.