Tarzana elementary school vandalized with hateful graffiti, swastikas
An investigation is underway after the fence outside of Wilbur Charter Elementary in Tarzana was tagged with hateful graffiti over the weekend, leaving students and parents outraged.
The graffiti, a string of swastikas spray painted on the fence wrap outside of the school, were quickly removed by school officials, but not before the word spread spread throughout the city's Jewish community.
"To see this, literally in our own community, was just really difficult," said Michelle Eskenazi-Wasser, who lives in the area.
Nearby security camera footage shows one person who looks to be writing or spray painting on the banner. They can be seen walking along the fence, writing or painting on several occasions before getting into a car and leaving.
"Terrible. Disgusting. I couldn't believe that. I was at home, I saw it on my phone, and I immediately came over here to see it," said Aaron Sharifi, another Tarzana resident. "To see it in person in my neighborhood, in our neighborhood, it's just terrible."
This is the latest incident of antisemitic graffiti appearing in Los Angeles County cities in recent weeks. Last weekend in Woodland Hills, similar images were left on walls near the Israeli American National Headquarters.
Los Angeles City Councilman Bob Blumenfield met with some of the worried families outside of the school's campus on Sunday to address their concerns. He said that he called school district officials to make sure that the wrap was removed before children returned to campus on Monday.
"Last weekend, we had more than a dozen incidents throughout the district of antisemitic hate graffiti," Blumenfield said. "When you do graffiti like this, it's not just about making graffiti, it's about trying to intimidate a community."
Residents say this is the second time in about a month that something like this has happened in their neighborhood.
"Right mow, their kind of has been a little bit of a pass when ti comes to Jewish, so what that does is, it makes people feel less fearful to express it," said Adeena Bleich. "I feel like anytime you give a pass to any type of hate, it gives permission to all hate to thrive."
Los Angeles Unified School District officials shared a statement with CBS News Los Angeles upon request. In part, it said: 'This weekend, it was discovered that the campus of Wilbur Charter for Enriched Academics was vandalized with culturally offensive graffiti. Staff has removed the graffiti and is currently investigating the incident. We are deeply disturbed by this incident and remain committed to educating our students about cultural diversity and the importance of tolerance and inclusion. Mental health resources will be available on campus for those who may be impacted by this incident."
Los Angeles police are investigating the incident, as well as a potential rise in antisemitic vandalism, according to Blumenfield.
