A swastika, profanity and other graffiti were found spray-painted on walls of La Jolla High School last weekend, and a school district official said the incident is being investigated as a hate crime.
The black and red paint was left on walls and a bench in the high school’s quad Friday night and reported to school police Saturday, said San Diego Unified School District spokeswoman Ursela Kroemer.
The graffiti was cleaned up Feb. 22.
“They wanted to do an investigation before they covered it over or power-washed it,” Kroemer said.
Kroemer said school and San Diego police officers are reviewing security camera footage from the school.
“Based on the type of phrases and images involved, this is being treated as a hate crime,” she said.
In addition to swastikas, the vandals also left “more white supremacist-type stuff,” including the words “white America” with “some symbols that (officials) were looking into,” Kroemer said.
The school district is asking the public to help identify the vandals, asking people to call school police at (619) 291-7678 if they have any information.
“We hope the vandals are identified in short order — this is extremely upsetting and disappointing,” Kroemer said.
This is the second spray painting incident the district has dealt with in the past several days. Three students at Patrick Henry High School were arrested after they admitted to spray painting “Patrick Henry Patriots” on doors at Serra High School late last week. Kroemer said the students were “very, very remorseful and apologetic” and have plans to visit Serra to apologize in person. — U-T San Diego