SWASTIKAS IN L.A.

Swastikas in L.A. (JTA)
Los Angeles police are investigating spray-painted swastikas and anti-Semitic graffiti in an upscale San Fernando Valley neighborhood.

Residents discovered the vandalism early Thursday morning, which included the words “Burn Jews” painted in front of four homes along a two-mile stretch of walls in the suburban communities of Encino and Tarzana.

Police are treating the incidents as possible hate crimes.

“I’m frightened,” Judy Silver, a neighbor whose home was not affected, told reporters. “I don’t know if it’s a sign of the times or if it’s just kids, because we’re surrounded by two schools.”

Amanda Susskind, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said her office had received a large volume of calls by outraged citizens.

ADL associate director Matthew Friedman said, “A hate crime like this targets not just those who live in the home, it targets the entire community.”