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Officials are speaking out after several schools were vandalized with "politically-charged" graffiti, anti-Semitic imagery - including swastikas - and anti-LGBTQ+ language," Superintendent Thomas Taylor confirmed.
According to reports, the imagery was found at these schools:
- Winston Churchill High School;
- Thomas S. Wootton High School;
- Strathmore Elementary School;
- Fallsmead Elementary School.
"Principals are reaching out to their communities to report these instances and to provide the supportive resources necessary to address the harm and anxiety these actions may have caused," Taylor added, making note that they are now working with the police amid the ongoing investigation.
The latest graffiti comes days after the community rallied when similar hateful imagery was found outside Bethesda Elementary School.
It is unclear if the cases are related.
Guila Franklin Siegel, the COO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington issued a statement condemning the latest hate crime targeting Montgomery County Public Schools.
"For the second consecutive week, MCPS school buildings have been vandalized by individuals with vitriolic, ill-informed comments directed towards the state of Israel, as well as other antisemitic images," he stated.
"It is no accident that the perpetrators of these incidents have defaced schools that are located in neighborhoods with high concentrations of Jewish residents and have significant numbers of Jewish students and faculty members."
Siegel made note that the schools are also just blocks away from several synagogues.
"(This) causes tremendous harm not only to Israelis and Jews, but to our entire shared community," he continued.
"We are confident that people of goodwill across all backgrounds and faiths will see these acts for what they are: hateful words designed to tear our communities apart rather than bring them together."
The incidents remain under investigation.
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