Editor's note: This story inadvertently included a police booking photo of a man involved in an unrelated traffic investigation.
Tucson police are investigating after vandals painted a red swastika and an anti-Jewish slur on an entry door at a north-side synagogue sometime over the weekend.
A congregant at Chabad on River, 3916 E. Fort Lowell Road, found the hate symbols at 8 a.m. Monday, June 7, when they arrived early to teach a religion class, said Rabbi Ram Bigelman, who oversees the congregation.
Bigelman called the incident âdeeply disturbing. He said the synagogue has been vandalized in the past but has never before been the target of anti-Semitic graffiti.
The Tucson Police Department is asking the public for help identifying anyone suspicious in the area between 8 a.m. Friday, June 4, and Monday morning.
Itâs the second vandalism incident in three weeks at a Tucson synagogue.
TPD is also investigating a May 19 case in which a rock was thrown through a glass window in the front door of Congregation Chaverim, 5901 E. Second St.
So far thereâs no evidence that incident was motivated by bias, said police spokesman Sgt. Richard Gradillas.
Anyone with information about either case can call 88-CRIME, which accepts anonymous tips.
The swastika incident has left many local Jews on edge at a time when similar incidents are on the rise nationwide, said Graham Hoffman, president and CEO of the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona.
âThere is sadness, and a certain disbelief that this could be happening here,â Hoffman said, and called on Tucsonans of all beliefs to show solidarity with the Jewish community.
âThe rights to assemble and worship in peace and safety are cornerstones of American democracy,â he said.
