There Were Swastikas, But Was It a Hate Crime Scrawled In Maple Syrup?

It may have started as a case of bullying, but was it a hate crime?

Police were questioning several teenage girls, accompanied by their parents Wednesday, following the dumping of feces, and the scrawling of swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans on one Northridge home, and the vandalizing of another with toilet paper.

All the girls and the teenage victims attend the same Northridge school, Senior Lead Officer Daniel del Valle told Chatsworth Patch. But the name of the school and the location of the vandalism is being held confidential because the investigation is continuing, he said.

The latest incident comes only weeks after swastikas were found .

Maple syrup was used to spell out an anti-Semitic message, swastikas and the word "Jew" Sunday night or Monday morning on the Northridge driveway of a Jewish family.

Toilet paper had also been tossed in trees, said Capt. Kris Pitcher of the Los Angeles Police Department's Devonshire Division. But because there was no lasting damage, no vandalism crime occurred and the incident does not rise to the level of a hate crime, Pitcher said.

However, del Valle said officers spent the day alerting the staffs of Jewish synagogues throughout the area.

LAPD Sgt. Humberto Najera told the Jewish Journal that the "victim’s residence was hit with what appeared to be a prank, but police are investigating the incident as a hate crime and as an act of vandalism because the graffiti was anti-Semitic."
 
“We don’t treat these things lightly,” Najera said.

The homeowner, who spoke with the Jewish Journal on condition of anonymity, said: “I went outside to make sure there wasn’t additional damage, and when I opened up the door there was feces on the doorstep, maple syrup all over my door and on the doorstep and walking up to the door, two swastikas and the word ‘Jew’ and a third swastika.”

The homeowner, the son of a Holocaust survivor, posted the accompanying image of the vandalism on Facebook.

He told the Jewish Journal that he believes the incident could be related to three teenaged girls – former friends of his daughter.

Another house about three-quarters of a mile away was vandalized with toilet paper around the same time, police confirmed. The homeowner told the Jewish Journal that his daughter is a friend of the daughter of the other victimized family.

"Although no criminal conduct was established during these incidents, hate crimes and hate incidents are not just a violation against an individual or group, but also against the whole of society," the LAPD said in a statement. "As such, the LAPD places a very high priority on hate crimes."

The homeowner told the Journal, "It’s 2012 and we're still dealing with people hating Jews because we’re Jews."

Pitcher said anyone with information about the crimes can call detectives at 818-832-0609.

-- The Jewish Journal and City News Service contributed to this report.