Swastikas and a message praising Adolf Hitler were spray-painted on trees in Potomac Woods Park earlier this month, Rockville Acting Police Chief Bob Rappoport said Thursday.
The graffiti are the latest in the series of hate-related messages that have appeared throughout the county in recent months.
“It seems like there’s been an uptick in these graffiti incidents, but I can’t connect [the park graffiti] to the county as a whole,” Rappoport said.
The latest incident was reported to police at about 10 a.m. Jan. 5, according to the Rockville police weekly crime report.
“We received an anonymous complaint that trees were painted in the park,” Rappoport said. One or two trees as well as one that had fallen were painted, he said.
The police report said “Hail Hitler” was painted on another tree, Rappoport said.
Another hate-related incident occurred Saturday when Rockville police investigated an anti-Semitic letter left on the car of a Rockville family. The parents had hung a “Black Lives Matter” sign outside their condominium.
“And for this we would like to award you a gold star. Enjoy the mayhem,” the letter reads. Drawn at the bottom is a six-pointed Star of David, colored yellow. Next to the star is written, “Jude,” resembling the label Jews were forced to wear when the Nazis ruled Germany.
Rappoport said his officers had found no connection between the graffiti on the trees and the note left for the family.
